


The Beginning of the End

by ashes_at_midnight



Category: Angel: the Series, Bones (TV), Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Crossover, Crossover Pairings, F/M, False Memories, Memory Loss, Shanshu Prophecy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-05
Updated: 2015-02-04
Packaged: 2018-02-24 05:29:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 32,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2569868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashes_at_midnight/pseuds/ashes_at_midnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU from the end of S4 of 'Bones' What if Booth started remembering his past life as Angel? What does this mean for Buffy, and Booth? A new case, a new Hellmouth and a new set of memories! Buffy/Booth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: The world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel belongs to Joss Whedon, Bones belongs to Hart Hanson. I am merely using these amazing characters to satisfy my beast of a muse!
> 
> A/N: Spoilers for all of BtVS and Angel. Takes place during the final episode of Bones S4 "The End in the Beginning" Spoilers for previous seasons, does not take into account season 5 or above.
> 
> Big shout out to Readingmama for betaing this for me! Read, review, but most of all enjoy!
> 
>  
> 
> [ ](http://s1257.photobucket.com/user/ashes1753/media/beginning_zpsbd3411a4.png.html)  
> 

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 1

The Hellmouth

Cleveland, Ohio, May 14th 2009

 

 

Buffy Summers, a Vampire Slayer walked down the street towards the new Council building, the small heels of her black boots clicking softly as she walked. She was wearing a pair of figure hugging dark-blue jeans, a white knit top and a dark brown trench coat to protect her against the fresh spring breeze. She sighed loudly as she walked up the stone steps, pushed at the artistically carved double wooden doors, and heading into the lobby of the building that was now the headquarters for the new Slayer and Watchers Council operations around the world.

Sitting at the reception desk on the left hand side of the large room sat a perky, perfectly presented blonde. Her bright blue eyes rimmed with black eyeliner and mascara, her lips a bright pink to match her skin tight, flower printed dress and long manicured nails. Buffy glanced over towards the young, self-absorbed vampire Harmony looked up, gave a brilliant beaming smile and stood up, hurrying over to Buffy, her high, hot-pink heels clicking against the granite tiles.

"Hey Boss!" she gushed. "You have a few messages." She quickly handed Buffy a stack of pastel-pink post-it notes. "Oh and Giles wants you in the conference room in 10 minutes."

Buffy sighed, again mystified that the Watchers Council, an organisation dedicated to eliminating the forces of evil had hired a vampire as its receptionist. Admittedly, it was hard to find good help nowadays. Harmony worked hard, and there was a strict no-blood policy on all Council grounds, still…it _was_ Harmony.

Buffy rolled her eyes, taking the notes and nodding reluctantly. "Ok, thanks Harmony." She managed a weak smile. "Why don't you head home for the day?"

Harmony beamed. "Ok, thanks Buffy!" she said brightly, quickly making her way back to the desk, turning off the computer and grabbing her bag, which was also pink, before heading towards the back hallway and the underground sewer access. Buffy shook her head in disbelief, she was just waiting for the day when a fluffy white Pomeranian would poke its head out of Harmony's bag and yip at her.

As the click-click of Harmony's heels faded into the background, Buffy stuffed the bundle of post-it notes into her pocket and headed up the stairs.

A few minutes later she sat in the conference room on the top floor. Three sides of the immense room were covered in neo-tempered glass, the same glass that Angel had in his Wolfram and Hart office. The midday sun was coming in through the panels and highlighting Buffy's hair and bouncing of the ancient hardwood table. She tried to appear interested, really she did, but the politics she now found herself dealing with everyday put her to sleep. Give her a trusty stake and a battleaxe any day! She glanced across the table, caught Faith's eye and smirked, knowing the other Slayer was thinking the exact same thing she was.

Faith grinned and shifted in her seat, throwing her arms over her head and stretching. Giles stood in front of a whiteboard, a pen in his hand as he outlined the things going on in the Council.

The conference room was full, all the gang was there. Giles, Willow, Xander, Spike and Faith, as well as a few of the more experienced Watchers, a few of the older Slayers and Lorne, a green-skinned empathy demon. At the end of the table a laptop was open, facing Giles, on the screen the faces of Dawn and her husband, Connor Reilly beamed at them. They couldn't make the meeting, but had still wanted to sit in on the discussion.

 _Nerds,_ Buffy thought with a hint of sisterly pride.

Giles' voice started to drown out as Buffy's thoughts turned inward. The past six years had been one hell of a ride, first the destruction of the Hellmouth, then the establishment of the new council. Giles had suggested they move to Cleveland, the location of the only other Hellmouth in the continental US. Buffy had agreed; California held too many memories, some good, some bad. She needed something new, but she did miss the weather.

Back then, in those early days, she had needed to be strong for Dawn, for the Slayers, and for everyone who needed her. She enrolled Dawn in one of the best schools in the city, watching her graduate with distinction and go on to become one of the better field Watchers in the new Council. Giles was so proud. At the moment she was in Northern Russia with her husband and her Slayer. Last reports had them rounding up a pack of Thesulac demons.

After the Hellmouth had collapsed, Xander had travelled the world, and helped to find all the new Slayers; he had wanted time and space to grieve for Anya. He had returned almost four years ago and had been here ever since. He owned a construction company which he worked during the day. He said it was a good way for him to help the ordinary world as well. After Anya's death there hadn't really been anyone else, he had had a few girlfriends here and there but nothing too serious, and they all ended quickly.

Willow was single too. She and Kennedy had lasted for a few years, but gradually drifted apart as Willow's magic became stronger and Kennedy found herself travelling all over the world. Kennedy was in South America at the moment, Willow was here in Cleveland. She often taught the Slayers the very basics of magic, how to recognise certain herbs and spells, and a few common protection spells that would help them fight.

Faith had lost Robin over five years ago, they had been going steady and it was a shock to see him go. He was in a car accident; a speeding car had clipped him on the highway and pushed him directly into the past of a truck coming the other way. He had died instantly.

Perhaps the only good thing to come out of the entire ordeal was Faith finding out she was pregnant only a few weeks after his death. She now had a healthy little boy. She called him Robbie after his father and doted on him like her own mother should have doted on her. He was a little terror.

Giles had spent the past six years in Cleveland and was now head of the Watchers Council, coordinating the training and education of the Slayers. He still helped with field work.

Not all of the Slayers had Watchers. Most of the Slayers worked in squads, in groups of between 5 and 10 girls who were in charge of preventing the demons and vampires from taking over the city. In the quieter areas of the world there was normally only one Slayer. Mostly those who preferred to work by themselves, they were often the ones assigned with Watchers.

In the six years since Willow's spell made all the potentials, Slayers, they had found in excess of over two thousand Slayers. With almost one hundred squads, Slayer's and Watchers were now stationed all over the world.

The younger Slayers, those who had not reached the age of sixteen, were kept out of the field if it could be helped. They attended the boarding school across the road and trained in everything from ancient history to battle tactics and were tutored by the Watchers either too old or too inexperienced to train a field Slayer.

Buffy was no longer at the front of all the battles, she was still active in the field, but with the amount of Slayers around the world it meant she no longer had to fight alone, or risk her friends hurting. She had been enthusiastic about starting the new Council.

It all changed a year after they had destroyed the Sunnydale Hellmouth, reports had come in from the Slayers stationed in San Francisco. Los Angeles was in flames, buildings were down and demon's roamed the streets. News reports from all over the world reported chaos and death.

Buffy had absolutely no word from Angel. She sat by the phone for days, hoping he would call, hoping he would tell her he was okay.

About a week after the initial reports, there was a soft knock at the front door of the apartment she shared with Dawn. It was the middle of the night, and they weren't expecting anyone. It was a shock when Buffy opened the door, revealing Spike and a tall, sandy haired boy standing on the threshold; they were covered in blood. The look on Spike face had said it all.

Buffy had collapsed, crying uncontrollably. Dawn had rushed towards her, offering comfort when she didn't know what else to do. She had let them in as she had grabbed Buffy around the shoulders and pulled her up onto the couch. Spike had hesitated for a second, looking down at the broken Slayer and then reached out and grabbed the phone. He had quickly found Giles' and Willow's numbers, calling them and telling them to come quick.

Giles had arrived first, living only a couple of blocks away. He had immediately taken charge, comforting Buffy and telling Dawn to put the kettle on. Soon Buffy was huddled in a blanket; her feet tucked under her, a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

Willow had rushed in a few seconds later. She had looked straight at Buffy, seen the tears streaking down her cheeks and immediately knew that something was wrong. She sat down beside her, wrapped her arms around the Slayer's shaking shoulders and held her tight. Buffy had taken a deep breath, turned her tear-filled hazel eyes to Spike and asked him what had happened.

The blonde vampire had looked away, a brief flash of pain crossing his features as he remembered that final battle. Finally he had turned back, looking deep into her eyes as he moved forward and sat down on the floor in front of her. Then he had told her everything that had happened that in that past year, from his first appearance as a ghost, becoming corporeal, and finally, how he started fighting by Angel's side. He told her of the constant battle of wills between him and the older vampire and about the struggle to keep the evil at bay. He told her of Gunn's legal upgrade, Cordelia's last goodbye and Fred's ultimate sacrifice. He told her of Illyria, and how the God King ultimately became one of their strongest allies. He told them about Wesley and his decline after the death of the woman he loved.

He had paused then, taking a deep breath before telling the Slayer and the others everything that had happened in those last hours. About Angel's suicidal, but brilliant plan to eliminated the senior members of the Circle of the Black Thorn. How Wesley had died and how Lorne had killed Lindsay, before packing his bags and walking away from the battle, unwilling to become more involved. He told her of how the four of them; Angel, Illyria, Gunn and himself had stood in the rain in that dirty alley and took up arms against the demon horde coming towards them.

Buffy had started crying again, tears flowing silently down her cheeks as he told her how Gunn had quickly fallen, his chest ripped out, his guts spilling to the floor. Spike's voice grew rough as he explained how Angel had taken him aside then and told him that if he fell he was to get Connor out of the city.

Spike had ducked his head then, shaking his head as a single tear rolled down his cheek. He sniffed. "Stupid bastard," he had muttered. "I couldn't do anything!"

Buffy shook her head desperately. "No," she whispered frantically, "No."

Spike had sighed, and told her what she didn't want to hear. That Angel had fallen.

"It happened so fast, the dragon was on him, without any of us noticing." Spike said, "It had swooped down out of the sky, fire spewing from its mouth. You know how fast Angel is, but even he couldn't avoid it."

Spike shook his head sadly. "I've never heard him scream like that, never. He was on fire. He wasn't done though, bloody crazy bastard! He raised his sword with the last of his strength, javelin style. He skewered that damn dragon in the eye and killed it good and proper."

"And then he died, just crumpled to dust, right in front of me. I couldn't do anything." He sniffed and wiped at his eyes quickly.

"I couldn't move. Turns out I didn't need to anymore. The demons, they stopped fighting. As soon as Angel was dead they just stopped. Then they started cheering!" he growled softly.

"Illyria, the crazy bird just stood their staring, no emotion on her face at all. Me? Bloody hell I didn't know what to do did I? Angel and I had known each other for a hundred years; I had hated the bastard for almost as long too. But finally, it was starting to look like we could be buddies again."

Buffy's eyes widened in shock and Spike nodded. "Yeah, was finally looking like we could be in the same room without killing each other. I never thought there would be a day when he wasn't there, ya know." He looked down sadly. "I don't know who I'm gonna annoy now."

Buffy managed a small smile at the last admission, wiped her eyes on her hand. She turned to the young man sitting beside Spike, who had been silent the entire time. "Who are you?" she'd asked quietly. There was something about the young man that had called to her.

The teenager had shifted nervously, his blue eyes shifting towards Spike and then back towards the Slayer. He swallowed thickly and took a deep breath. "I'm Connor," he'd said holding out his hand. "Connor Reilly."

Her eyes widened and she glanced at Spike. "The Connor, Angel asked you to get out of Los Angeles at all costs?" she'd asked. At Spikes small nod she turned to Connor, her eyes narrowing.

"What makes you so important that he would sacrifice his life for yours?" she'd asked him bluntly, her eyes flashing.

"Because I'm his son," Connor said, catching Buffy's gaze. He looked into her hazel eyes and struggled to tell her, he didn't want to cause her more pain, but this was necessary.

Buffy's eyes widened. "What?" She gasped. "But…It's impossible, Angel's a…." she'd choked as she'd started crying again and sucked in a breath "…was, a vampire. Vampires can't have children."

Connor shrugged. "There was a prophesy, it was a thing." He looked at Spike. "I know he was pretty shocked when mom turned up," he muttered.

Buffy sucked in a deep breath. "Who is your mom?" she asked softly, biting her lip, not exactly sure she even wanted to know. Just the thought of Angel having a child with anyone other then herself sent chills down her spine. The fact that he had an eighteen year old son that he had never told her about was a kick in the guts, one that made her want to vomit.

"Darla," he answered.

Spike saw the look of horror and pain that flashed across Buffy's face and wanted to clarify. "It's true, love, Dru told me she was back. Angel was going through a bad patch, she was there and I guess well… I'm sure you can work out what happened." He shrugged apologetically. "Fred told me Angel was pretty shocked when Darla turned up months later looking like she was ready to pop. None of them knew what was going on."

"Or if I was human," added Connor.

The Scoobies all looked at him. "Are you?" asked Buffy softly.

Connor nodded. "As far as we can tell, I am. I just have a few…extras." He grinned "Vampire strength and speed, enhanced hearing, smell and eyesight. Win, win actually."

Shock didn't even begin to describe the looks on everyone's faces as Willow surveyed the group. "There is something I don't get, you're what, eighteen?" she asked, unconsciously voicing Buffy's earlier thoughts. "I find it hard to believe that Angel failed to mention he had a son after all he and Buffy had…"

The stricken look on Buffy's face told everyone that she was thinking the same thing herself. She turned and looked at Connor, waiting for him to explain, it was a big surprise when he started laughing softly.

The teenager shook his head. "I was only born three years ago," he said.

Everyone blinked. "Come again?" squeaked Dawn as Giles took off his glasses and cleaned them vigorously before placing them back on the bridge of his nose.

"I was raised in a hell dimension by a vampire hunter called Holtz," he explained, no longer thinking of the Englishman as his father. "I was taken from Angel when I was only a few weeks old, Holtz raised me and I spent sixteen years in Quor-thor, the catch, only about two months had passed here," he told them matter-of-factly.

Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh god…"

Connor shrugged. "I was a mess, I hated Angel, I hated Los Angeles….I did a lot of bad things, before Dad finally put a stop to it."

"What did he do?" asked Buffy softly. She had never realised just how much Angel had gone through since he had left Sunnydale.

"He altered everyone's memories, making a deal with Wolfram and Hart in the process. He would take over their LA office and I would get all these brand-spanking new memories, a new life, a new family. Without any knowledge of Angel, Holtz or my time in Quor-thor." He paused. "The only one that would remember would be Angel." He'd shaken his head. "He gave me up so I could have a normal life, he got a multi-dimensional company, and that shiny necklace thing in the deal as well…"

Buffy's eyes widened. "The necklace you wore when we destroyed the Hellmouth?" she'd asked Spike.

The blonde vampire nodded "Yep, deal with a devil if you ask me…"

"So why are you here?" asked Buffy, turning her head and looking at Connor again

Connor rolled his eyes. "Because nothing ever turns out how you want it to! Demons came after me, and my new parents had heard of Wolfram and Hart. I met Angel, I had no idea what was going on then. Wesley knew something was up, he was always good at figuring out stuff like that, anyway he did something, smashed a globe… suddenly I could remember everything. I had my real memories of Quor-thor and Angel and the team, and then I had the fabricated memories of the Reilly's." He paused and looked down. "It took me a while to work out what was real," he whispered.

"So have I met you before?" asked Willow.

Connor nodded. "Yeah, last year when you had to come to Los Angeles to do a spell. You don't remember because only Wes, Illyria and I remember. You weren't there when Wes smashed that magical globe. My parents, the Reilly's, they don't know either," he'd explained.

Buffy looked down, she was shaking slightly. "So he's gone," she whispered. "He's really gone." She'd felt the tears again, and sniffed desperately to keep them from falling.

Spike paused, and then reached out slowly and squeezed her hand in a comforting gesture. "He really is, love," he had said around the lump in his throat.

Back in the present Buffy shook her head, coming out of her musings as Giles called her name sharply. She jerked in her seat; sitting up startled and then looked guiltily towards her former Watcher. "Sorry Giles," she muttered, "Go on…."

Giles cleared his throat loudly. "As I was saying the Cleveland Hellmouth is unusually quiet of late…"

 

(v)

Washington DC

FBI Special Agent Seeley Booth lay flat on his back on the hospital gurney as he stared up at the perfectly white ceiling and the bright halogen lights of the surgery room. He started counting backwards, the drugs pumping through his system quickly, making him feel sleepy. His eyelids became heavy and he blinked a few times, instinctively trying to keep himself awake. Unwilling to let himself go just yet.

In the last few seconds of conscious thought, he turned his head and looked through the glass window at the tall, strikingly beautiful anthropologist who had been his partner for the past four years. He smiled as Dr. Brennan raised her hand and waved at him. His thoughts were starting to become muddled, the edges of his vision starting to blacken uncontrollably, and he sighed in resignation. Finally his eyes closed and didn't open again. The anaesthetists checked his vitals' and quickly nodded to the doctor.

Dr Brennan was pulled away, a young nurse grabbing her arm and slowly leading her away. A curtain was closed, to screen off the surgery, as the doctor picked up a scalpel. "Ok people," he muttered, "let's get to work."

 

(v)

 

Seeley Booth dreamed. A series of vivid physic flashes, memories that were not his own were forming in his brain, memories that were both calming, and memories that were so filled with terror he felt his body shiver in fear. He could see, hear, smell and touch. It all felt so real, yet it couldn't be. Could it? None of these things were familiar to him; the people he saw were all strangers.

There was a blonde girl, small and strong and full of fire, her spirit untamed. She had a sword in her hand and was crying as she rammed the steel through his chest.

He was in the middle of an ice skating rink, and the same blonde girl who had rammed a sword through his chest was standing before him and her lips were pressed against his. Even in his unconscious state he could tell the kiss was passionate, that it lit a fire within him.

Another memory, an older one this time showed a dark haired girl huddled in a church, her dress was better described as rags and her cheeks were tear stained as she looked up at him and prayed.

The same girl, her eyes wide and crazy was hanging on the arms of a young man with curly mousy-brown hair. Behind them the sky was on fire and the man smirked as he licked blood from his lips.

He saw a young black man and a skinny waif of a girl smiling happily as they stood in the sunshine, a tall, bespeckled man sat at a desk engrossed in a book. A baby cried in a bassinet, and a pregnant woman huddled in the rain, her small hands clutching her belly desperately.

The images became strange and he saw a blue-haired dominatrix in red-leather and a green-skinned man with red horns in a bright blue suit. An angry teenager with a bomb shouted at him. A curvy young woman, her dark hair falling in waves around her shoulders laughed with a smiling Irishman.

The places were surprising and otherworldly, old buildings made of stone, a run-down hotel, and a tall state-of-the art skyscraper. He saw the inside of a small dark apartment, and the beautiful interior of a London townhouse.

He rocked slowly as he huddled in the wooden hull of a large ship. He pulled a thread-bare coat around his shoulders as he ducked his head and walked down a dirty New York street. He stood in the smoke surrounded by fire trucks, and tried to appear casual as he belted out the words to 'Mandy' under a bright spotlight.

All these scenes were merely a flash in his mind, one minute they were there the next they had slipped from his grasp.

The last scene he saw was of an alley, rain was bucketing down. The black man and the blue haired woman were standing behind him. Next to him stood a man with white-blonde bleached hair.

All four of them stood tall, despite the ache in their bodies. Booth knew he was hurt the sword in his hand was hanging limp. He took a deep breath, and spoke, "Let's get to work."

And his mind went blank.

 

(v)

Washington DC, May 15th 2009

Temperance 'Bones' Brennan sat in the uncomfortable plastic hospital chair. A laptop was perched on her knee as she sat beside the hospital bed where Booth slept peacefully. He was perfectly still, the frown lines in his forehead smoothed out in sleep. His chest rose and fell rhythmically as he breathed; the monitors beside him beeped and buzzed, numbers and lines flashing across the dark screens as they monitored his heart and breathing rate.

Brennan was worried, the surgery had been a success, but with all brain surgery there was still a great deal of risk. She was worried that Booth wouldn't wake up, so she hadn't left his side since he had come out of surgery a few hours ago, and decided to pass the time by writing another chapter of her new book.

On the bed Booth stirred, muttering in his sleep. Bones couldn't understand what he was saying, but he thrashed in the bed and the monitors beeped their process. A nurse hurried into the room and checked his vitals, opened his eyes and flashed a small torch across his pupils. She smiled softly.

"He's waking up," she announced. "I'll get the doctors; we have to take the tube out of his mouth."

Brennan nodded, closed her laptop and placed it on the chair beside her. She wrung her hands nervously, biting her lip and waiting impatiently as the doctor entered; in that leisurely, unhurried pace all doctors seem to have. He checked Booth's monitors again and nodded to the nurse who unclipped a few tubes and slowly pulled the tube from Booth's mouth and placed it on a tray beside the bed.

With a small smile at Brennan, the nurse left the room. The doctor checked Booth's pulse, wrote a few things on the clipboard and then swept from the room without even acknowledging the nervous anthropologist.

Slowly, Brennan turned towards Booth, scooted forward in her chair and laid a hand on the side of the bed, inches from his hand. With a swift glance at his face she shifted her hand and placed it on top of his. His hand jerked and she pulled hers away instantly as he shifted and muttered something unintelligible. His eyelids fluttered and he groaned as he opened his eyes.

Brennan sucked in a deep breath. "Booth," she gasped.

Booth sucked in a deep breath and glanced towards her. He blinked and frowned. "Who are you?" he asked.

Bones' mouth popped open as she started at her partner in shock; this was the last thing she was expecting.

Everything happened quickly after that, Brennan called the doctor, who asked Booth a series of questions. "It doesn't make any sense." He said to the doctor as he explained that he remembered all different things about himself that contradicting each other.

Including a father who drank to much and one who was always disappointed. A impressionable younger sister verses a charming younger brother, and most importantly a shiny broadsword and long black coat compared to his sniper rifle and desert fatigues.

Brennan was worried, he never once mentioned her, and she knew Booth had never wielded a sword in his life. When the doctor left, Booth frowned, looked her in the eye, trying to remember. After a few minutes his dark brown eyes started to clear and he murmured, "Bones?" softly. The anthropologist smiled happily, feeling incredibly relieved that he finally remembered her.

"You remember now?" she asked softly.

He frowned again but nodded. "I don't know, I didn't know you at first but things are coming back to me now." He paused. "But I remember other things too,"

Brennan cocked her head curiously and blinked. "What kind of memories?" she asked.

He shifted on the bed, looked down and locked his hands together over his chest, folding them protectively over his heart. He paused. "I remember people….lots of people I have never met before, a blonde girl, and a brunette…" He frowned. "… and a teenage boy who looks at me angrily."

"Booth?" Bones said in concern.

"No, Bones… I know what you're going to say, and these aren't dreams, these aren't just some manifestations of my subconscious. I'm remembering these things for the first time," he told her desperately.

The anthropologist frowned, not convinced. "Are they old memories?" she asked softly,

Booth paused. "Only a few years, most of them anyway, others seem older." He blinked as an image flashed through his mind.

_He stumbled drunkenly out of a noisy pub, his arms over the shoulders of a mate as they laughed heartily. His friend tripped and sprawled on the floor, he looked down and laughed._

" _Ahh…just sleep thar then" he muttered, his accent Irish. He chuckled and raised his head, noticing a young woman standing in the mouth of an alley. She turned her head and he felt his breath hitch at her beauty, his body unconsciously responding as she smirked, tossed her head and walked away._

_He found himself following the beautiful blonde woman, stumbling every now and then; he rounded a corner and found her standing in the middle of the alley, her back to him and her old-fashioned white dress hugging her womanly curves. He ran his eyes over her shapely form. "Now, what's a fine lass like ya doing in an alley with the reputation this one has?" he asked._

_The woman turned his head, and he noticed her eyes were a bright cornflower blue. She smiled._

" _Maybe I'm not the girl you think I am," she purred seductively. ._

Booth took a deep breath and shook his head frantically, desperately trying to put the images out of his mind. "Some of them feel…different," he admitted softly. "As if it's me, but not me. I feel…. different, angry, hungry….manic." He paused, glanced at Dr. Brennan before quickly looked down in embarrassment.

Brennan paused, and watched the FBI agent in concern. She tried smiling at him encouragingly. "Booth, its ok," she said softly, patting his hand awkwardly as she attempted to reassure him.

He shook his head frantically. "No, it's not. I want to get to the bottom of this Bones. I want to know who these people are." He looked her directly in the eye. "I don't know who I am anymore, Bones," he told her softly. "But I intend to find out!"

He looked down at his arm, grabbed hold of the tube sitting on his wrist and pulled it out with a soft tug. Bones winced, gasping as Booth grunted in pain.

He threw the covers off, revealing he was only wearing a hospital gown, and swung his legs over the side, before slowly getting to his feet. Brennan's eyes widened as the loose ties of his gown exposed the strong muscles of his back and the curve of his buttocks to her startled gaze.

She looked away hastily, a blush tinging her cheeks, feeling incredibly flustered. Booth walked to the chair on the other side of the room, shifted through his bag and pulled out a pair of jeans, a shirt and some undies before turning to the waiting anthropologist. He looked her in the eye.

"I can't just sit around and do nothing," he told her. "I have to find out what's going on."

Bones nodded silently, completely agreeing with him as he turned and slipped into the little bathroom, closing the door behind him with a soft click.


	2. Chapter 2

 

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 2

Washington DC, June 5th 2009

 

Seeley Booth sighed loudly as he rubbed his forehead; it had been almost three weeks since the surgery. The doctors hadn't let him check out that afternoon and he ended up staying another week. The last two he had spent at home, catching up on the football, going to doctors and specialists, getting tests, and relaxing on the couch. He was so bored! He was no closer to getting reinstated with the FBI. Apparently temporary memory loss, if only for a couple of hours was a serious thing.

He shook his head and turned to look at his partner. He was sitting on the couch in Bones' office in the Jeffersonian, while she was currently engrossed in typing out a few reports on her computer. Booth sighed again loudly, shifted further into the seat and lowered his arm so it rested on the back of the chair.

Brennan's fingers stilled and she looked up from her work briefly, her bright blue eyes illuminated by the computer's soft glow. She paused, a small frown on her delicate features. "What's wrong?" she wondered in concern.

For someone so brilliant there was something incredibly naïve about her. The human world was a complete mystery to her, Booth smiled inwardly, that's what he loved most about her, why he enjoyed working with her. She saw the world in a completely different way than he did; more focused on the facts of the case than the actions of the people that were involved in them. He looked up into her eyes. "I still have another week until my review. Until then I'm stuck, resting on my ass with nothing to do."

"Ass is not the correct term you know; the correct term for the buttocks is _gluteus maximus_ …" She paused at Booth's annoyed look. "You're not interested are you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "I'm really not." He said and sighed softly again. "I'm not used to this, Bones; doing nothing….I don't like it. Plus, I keep dreaming of all these people, and places I haven't been to."

Brennan opened her mouth to respond when Angela walked into the room, her dark wavy hair bouncing around her shoulders. She had a colourful green dress on under her dark blue science coat and the bangles around her wrists jingled together as she walked.

She stopped in front of Bones' desk. "Hey Sweetie," she said, raising her eyebrow as she handed Brennan a final facial reconstruction of their latest case.

Angela turned her head and smiled at Booth. "Hey Booth."

Booth merely grunted his acknowledgement as Brennan smiled at the artist apologetically. "He's been having dreams," she whispered conspiracy, though still loud enough that Booth heard every word.

He turned his head and frowned at her. "I can hear you, you know." he muttered as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Angela laughed. "Was it a good dream? Want to tell me all about it?" Her smirk was devilish.

Booth laughed and just shook his head at her antics. "It's not that type of dream Angela."

Brennan frowned; she had missed the play on words. She glanced swiftly at Booth and then up at Angela. "He has been dreaming about people he hasn't met," she told the artist.

Angela looked interested and perched on the edge of Brennan's desk. "Really?"

Booth shrugged. "They're memories, I know that…I just can't remember." He chuckled and shook his head. "I have no idea who these people are!"

"So draw them?" suggested Angela softly

Booth made a face and snorted. "I'm not an artist, Angie," he said.

Angela chucked. "With those big hands of yours?" She quirked an eyebrow. "I know that, Booth, but even if you just try…it could help you get a hit."

Booth's eyes widened as he flipped his legs off the couch and stood up. "Maybe they'll be on file." He actually looked excited by the prospect

Brennan smiled. "Maybe you can get your answers after all Booth." she told him happily.

 

(v)

 

Later that night Booth was sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment, his dinner of steak, vegetables and a beer was sitting forgotten beside him as he hunched over the piece of paper in front of him. So engrossed in his drawing he didn't notice his dinner getting cold.

Time passed as he slowly moved his pencil over the paper, giving form and emotion to the otherwise lifeless object.

Slowly a portrait formed of a young girl, Booth knew her hair would be blond, her eyes hazel, her cute little nose crinkling slightly as she smiled.

_He walked down the small flight of stone steps and entered the mausoleum; a short blond girl parried a tall man's punch and swung her bright red scythe across his chest. The man dropped and he stepped forward, he felt no remorse for the dead man as the young woman looked up at him and smiled._

" _Hey," he murmured_

_She smiled and took a few steps towards him, lowering the scythe. She grabbed his shirt in one hand and pulled him close. She leaned up on her tiptoes as he bent down and kissed him, her lips soft and responsive. His eyes closed involuntary and he moaned softly. She took a deep breath and stepped back, her cheeks were flushed as she gazed up at him._

_He chuckled. "Not exactly the welcome I was expecting, but hey I'm not complaining," he stated, grinning._

_The girl smiled and opened her mouth to reply when behind her the man she had just killed jumped to his feet. His face was twisted into an angry scowl his eyes deep pools of blackness._

" _You'll pay for that bitch," he hissed in a southern twang._

His hand moved over the paper steadily, his mind wandering as he continued to work. Finally, Booth blinked and put the pencil down, his wrist cramping from hours working on the drawing. Coming out of his daze he looked down at the picture. It was beautiful, the pencil strokes soft, the lines sure and strong, emotion pouring out of the perfectly formed picture. His eyes opened wide in shock. "What the hell!"

 

(v)

 

The next day Booth stalked into the Jeffersonian; the picture clutched in his hand, he walked into Angela's office, noticing the entire team standing around as she showed them her new sketch. They all looked up as he stormed in; he gritted his teeth together as he thrust the sketch into her hands. Angela blinked and then looked down at the picture.

Her eyes opened wide and she gasped softly. "Oh, Booth," she breathed, reaching out and touching the picture in awe. "This is beautiful."

Booth huffed. "Yeah, yeah…it's great," he muttered. "But Angela, I can't draw."

Angela shook her head and raised the picture to show the rest of the team. "So modest," she said with a chuckle as Cam's, Hodgin's and Brennan's eyes all widened in disbelief. "I don't know what made you think you couldn't draw, but Booth, this is…" She shook her head, at a loss for words. "…extraordinary."

Brennan reached out and slowly took the drawing from Angela's fingers, gazing down at it. "This is so lifelike….." She looked over the picture carefully, her eyes drinking in every detail. "She's pretty," she murmured looking up at Booth quickly.

Cam glanced toward Booth and smiled gently as he shrugged awkwardly. Hodgins leaned over Brennan's shoulder and looked at the picture too, whistling softly.

"Wow man, she's hot!" He smirked, his blue eyes twinkling as he looked up Booth.

Booth glared and snatched the picture from Bones' grasp, huffing angrily as he rolled the drawing up and stuffed it in the pocket of his leather jacket.

"Ok, enough. Can we focus here? Angela, can you identify her?" he asked

Angela nodded and held out her hand, raising her eyebrows. Booth grinned awkwardly and reached into his jacket and handed her the picture again. Angela grabbed the drawing, took it over to her computer and quickly scanned it into the system. The Blonde's picture quickly popped up on the projector board, Angela quickly typed a few characters into her portable keypad and a series of screens popped up, she quickly flicked through the relevant screen's adding details, asking Booth if he knew anything else about her appearance.

Booth frowned, scratched his head. "She's short," he murmured softly holding out his hand and holding it at chest height, "About here."

Angela quickly estimated the height between Booth's hand and the floor. "About 5'2," she confirmed, nodding and adding the new information into the database. The computer whirled to life, pictures of girls and young woman, all different hair colors, all with varying Caucasian features flashed across the screen.

Finally the computer beeped and a picture popped up onto the screen. It was of a young blonde girl, five or so years younger than the image Booth had provided. Her wide hazel eyes stared determinedly at the camera, her mouth set angrily. Angela leaned forward and cocked her head. "A one Buffy Summers, suspect in two separate murder investigations in a small town of Sunnydale, California in 1998." She frowned. "She was seventeen, that makes her what?… 28?" She glanced at Booth.

He was staring at the mug-shot in disbelief. His mouth opened and he struggled to find the words; finally he cleared his throat. "I never actually thought it was real. I never thought she was actually a real person." he muttered shaking his head.

Angela bit her lip. "So you're actually remembering real people?" She sounded excited. Booth couldn't share the artist's enthusiasm, he was hoping the dreams he was having could just be that, dreams. Instead he had just found out that one of the people, who featured so predominantly in his dreams, was an actual person. A living breathing American, with thoughts and feeling just like anyone else.

He bit his lip and swallowed softly, he didn't know what to do. He glanced at Angela again and winced. "Does she have an address?" he asked quietly in anticipation.

Angela studied the file again and started typing. "We can check the IRS and DMV databases," she told him, entering in Buffy's details. The computer whirled for a few seconds and then beeped happily before her address and employment details popped up onto the screen.

"She lives in Cleveland," Booth said, and smiled.

Angela stared at the screen. "She works at a school, and is a member of a company called 'The Council'." She sounded interested.

Meanwhile Hodgins had been standing on the other side of the room, looking thoughtful as he scratched his chin. "Did you say she lived in Sunnydale?" he asked curiously. Booth and Angela turned around and looked at him, Booth nodded, wondering what the other man was getting at.

Hodgins looked interested. "It's just…" he started "…I remember this report on the news, about 6 years ago now. About this town, about the strange things that happened there. Government facilities and cover-ups. It's a conspiracy man, a few of my friends went there a few years ago, and I haven't heard from them since."

Booth sighed softly; looked up at the projector screen again, and gazed into Buffy's eyes. He turned his head and glanced at Brennan. "Do you want to take a trip to California?" he asked her, cracking a small smile.

Brennan sighed. "There's nothing there, Booth," she told him softly.

"I know, but…." He bit his lip. "It's just something that I need to do, Bones, I need to see what happened to that place," he trailed off and looked away.

Bones paused. "Is this because of the girl?" she asked, glancing up at the screen where Buffy's mug shot was still staring out at them. Booth didn't answer but Bones knew that was the reason he wanted to go. She smiled softly, her blue eyes twinkling in amusement. "Of course," she said.

Booth grinned. "Thanks Bones," he said, taking a step towards her and giving her a quick hug. "This is great."

 

(v)

California, USA, June 7th 2009

 

Brennan and Booth headed north, along the highway heading out of Los Angeles, towards the small seaside town of Sunnydale. Booth estimated the trip would take about two hours.

He reached over and fiddled with the dashboard, turning up the music in the small, electric blue VW Bug they had rented for the trip. The FBI had refused to pay because he hadn't been reinstated yet, despite being one of the best agents in the bureau. So Booth was forced to pay for the trip himself, while he would have loved to drive the black Dodge SVU, an absolute beast of a car, he was forced to rent the cheapest car possible.

He could have asked Bones to chip in, the sale of her new book was doing well, and she was quiet well off. A fact she never failed to point out to him, but Booth had some very old fashioned feelings about woman paying for things, it ranked right up there with opening doors and pulling chairs out. It was just something he didn't want to ask.

The little car started to whine in protest as the speedometer inched slowly forward and he sighed in annoyance, taking his foot off the gas and easing down in speed. At times like this he cursed his male chauvinistic pride.

In the passenger seat Brennan reached into her bag, pulled on a pair of dark sunglasses and looked out the window. "What are you hoping to find Booth?" she asked. "It's been almost twelve years since that picture was taken, the odds of her still being in that small town isn't a very high number." She turned and looked at him.

Booth knew she was concerned and he smiled at her, pleased at her reaction. He chuckled and then with a smirk, he turned his head and looked at her through his own pair of glasses, the golden lenses flashing in the afternoon sunlight.

"I know she isn't here, but I need to see the place where it all started. If I knew this girl when she was here maybe someone in this town knows me." He told her with conviction, his dark eyes imploring her to understand. "This is not something I'm just going to ignore," he told her softly. "I want to get to the bottom of this, sooner rather than later.

He turned his head back to the road and frowned. These dreams he was having were getting worse and worse. When he was in surgery they were just flashes, a few faces, a few scenes. But the last couple of days the dreams had been getting more and more detailed. He was there, experiencing the dream as if it had really happened. They were feeling more and more like a lost memory then a dream.

Just last night the dream he had was so vivid he had awoken covered in sweat, jumping out of bed and crouching, his teeth bared like an animal. The dream had been haunting him ever since.

_He ran through the woods, the thorns and braches snapping and snarling against his bare flesh. He was naked, except for a flimsy pair of torn shorts. He was covered in dirt and blood; the scent filled his nostrils as he fled through the woods. He stopped and paused, turning his nose to the wind and sniffed delicately. A low growl rumbled through his chest and he took off again, running in another directing, jumping over rocks and ducking over low hanging branches, finally he came to a clearing, a young man standing next to a tent looked up in horror, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening to scream when he darted forward, seized the man around the shoulders and bit the man's neck._

The dream had ended then as Booth had cried out in horror and scrambled from his bed. It had taken him a few minutes to comprehend where he was, the bedroom strange to his eyes as he looked around the room for any threat. It was only then, when his brain started to process again that he realised he was crouching, his teeth bared, and an angry snarl ripping from his throat.

Now, hours later as Booth drove towards Sunnydale, he still didn't know what to think, the dream had left him feeling disturbed, angry and worried. He didn't know what the hell was happening to him.

The dream he'd had on the plane flying from Washington DC to Los Angeles was even worse. He shook his head, gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white and gritted his teeth as he frantically tried to keep the images from floating through his head again. But it did no use, and against his will Booth started to remember the dream.

_He was walking along a dark tunnel; the walls were dripping with water, the rocks uneven and broken. Some ingrained instinct told him he was underground. Beside him, a dark-haired boy looked at him warily. He opened his mouth but Booth couldn't understand what he was saying. He felt a wave of anger at the boy's comments and turned away, he started walking fast and the boy fell into step behind him. Suddenly a feeling of dread washed over him, he felt a chill wash down his spine and he lunged forward, breaking into a run as he shouted something at the boy. He came to an opening in the tunnel and found himself looking out into an underground cavern, in the far corner of the cave there was an altar. In the middle of the space was a deep pool of water, an underground lake. On the edge, lying face down, her head in the water was a girl._

_He shouted frantically and jumped down the embankment, he felt the boy's presence behind him, panic and fear rolled off him in waves. He reached the girl and pulled her from the water, her eyes were closed and her chest was still. He looked up as the boy knelt beside him. "She's dead," he heard himself whisper, his hearing suddenly returning._

_The boy frowned. "Ever head of CPR?" he snapped. "It's worth a shot."_

"I don't breath," he whispered.

_The boy held out his hands and looked the girl from him. "Looks like it's up to me," he said as he opened the girls mouth and bent down to give her mouth to mouth. Booth shifted, worry seeping through him as he watched the boy push air into her lungs and move his hands to pump at her chest. His movements frantic, yet perfectly controlled._

_Suddenly, the girl gasped and sucked in a deep breath, her eyes popped open and she started to cough frantically, water trickling down her chin. She clutched at the boy and turned her head to look him directly in the eye. She stared at him for a second, and then she smiled, a radiant smile that lit up her entire face._

Booth shook his head again, it didn't register at the time but as he had gotten off the plane he had almost gasped out loud. The girl had been Buffy. That girl, now a woman had almost died in a cave and he had been there. A part of him wondered at the _I don't breath_ comment, maybe he'd had asthma… a small part of him also couldn't help but feel jealous that the other boy had presses his lips on hers.

"Booth!" shouted Bones frantically, her voice raised in horror.

Booth shook his head frantically, coming to himself just in time to notice the huge crater coming towards them at breakneck speed as he drove towards it. "Shit!" he snapped. He slammed his foot onto the brake, shifting down in gears as the small car skidded and then finally stopped only a few meters from the edge. Both Brennan and Booth took deep, shaky breaths. Then Booth chuckled softly, causing Brennan to give him a scandalous look before he opened the door and stepped out. Brennan took another deep breath, calming her racing heart before she got out of the car and headed towards the edge of the crater.

They both looked out over the edge; it was huge, perhaps a hundred miles in diameter. Booth frowned, took a step forward and looked carefully over the edge. "Look Bones." He pointed down at something below them.

Brennan frowned and took a few cautious steps forward to stand beside him, Booth took hold of her elbow, steadying her as she leaned forward and looked down. Perhaps a hundred meters below there was an old battered street sign, barely visible was the words _Welcome to Sunnydale_ painted on the sign. Brennan blinked in surprise and turned to look at Booth in shock.

He chuckled at her reaction. "I guess we found it." He shook his head, looked out at the crater and whistled again, impressed.

Brennan frowned again. "I've had better receptions," she muttered darkly, taking a step back from the craters edge.


	3. Chapter 3

 

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 3

Cleveland, Ohio

June 14th 2009

Buffy Summers sighed softly as she walked slowly through the abandoned warehouse district. There had been a lot of vampire activity in the area of late and rather than take a squad of Slayers with her, she decided to go patrolling by herself. She needed a good fight after being stuck at her desk for the last couple of weeks.

She twirled her stake in her hand as she walked into a debilitated building, all the windows were broken and there were bits and pieces of building equipment everywhere. A few metal drums and planks of wood were stacked in a corner and a number of corrugated iron sheets leaned against the back wall. She stopped in the entrance, looking around carefully before moving further inside.

The place was deserted, as was the next building and the one next to that as well. After staking no vamps and spending the entire night wandering the streets, she felt it was finally time to go home. That was when things started looking up.

At that moment, there was a crash and the sound of metal hitting concrete; she grinned. "Finally," she breathed, clutching her stake tightly as she broke into a run and headed for the noise.

She found two vampires, laughing quietly as they walked drunkenly away from a body of a young man lying in the middle of an abandoned building. Buffy froze, feeling a pang of sadness at the loss of the life she couldn't save. Both vampires looked up, their yellow demonic eyes wide with shock. The one on the right snarled angrily as it recognised her.

"Slayer," he hissed through his deformed mouth.

Buffy smiled. "Name's Buffy, I would ask you yours, but I just don't care."

The vampires growled loudly. Buffy lunged forward, kicked out quickly and punched the vampire that was closest to her, her fists moving almost too fast to see. The other vampire came at her from the side and punched her in the face. She stumbled, and both vampires lunged at her. One of them grabbed her around the waist, holding her tightly, so her back was pressed against his chest. He snarled and she felt his breath on the back of her neck. She narrowed her eyes, dropped her arms and grabbed his hands, bending forward and causing the vampire to lean forward with her. Flipping him over her back she threw him to the floor.

Buffy raised her stake and plunged it down into his heart. The vampire's eyes widened in surprise; he gave a soft groan and then crumpled to dust.

She heard a police siren in the background, its soft wail getting louder as they got closer and closer. Buffy glanced up just in time to see the other vampire lunge at her, he grabbed her around the shoulders and threw her to the floor. She gasped as the wind was knocked out of her, and her stake clattered against the floor as she lost her grip. It rolled away against the wooden floor.

The vampire pounced on her, his teeth snapping. She rolled away desperately. She reached out and punched it on the nose. The vampire stumbled back, snarling as Buffy scrambled to her feet. She ran over to her stake and snatched it up, turning she kicked out at the vampire again, causing it to fall back against the wall. She ran after it and plunged the stake into its chest. The vampire screamed in defiance and dusted. She coughed and took a step back as the dust wafted up into her throat.

The sirens were louder now as the police cars squealed to a stop in front of the abandoned warehouse. She had no idea why they were here, maybe her fight was louder then she had thought, or maybe the vampires had been making too much noise. Either way, the police were now on her trail.

The front door burst open with a clang of metal and a whole squad of policemen ran inside, guns up and cocked, flashlights bouncing around in the darkness. Her eyes widened and she ran out the back of the building. There were shouts behind her as the police spotted her before a second later the warehouse was filled with the sound of gunfire. The wall beside her was peppered with bullets as she ducked and slipped through a small doorway. She ran down a short narrow corridor towards a door at the back of the building. She grabbed the large metal bar across the heavy, steel enforced door and heaved. The door groaned loudly in protest as she pulled it open and slipped outside.

She froze. Three policemen stood a few meters in front of her, their faces obscured by the protective riot gear they were wearing. Their pistols pointed directly at her glinted ominously in the moonlight. "Hands up, now!" yelled the nearest officer. "Hands up where I can see them." Her eyes widened as she slowly raised her hands into the air.

'Shit," she muttered to herself as the man on the right holstered his gun and took a few steps towards her, turning her around, getting her to face the wall and handcuffing her arms behind her back.

"I didn't do anything!" she cried.

"I'd advise you to be quiet ma'am, anything you say can be used as evidence in a caught of law," he recited with practice.

Buffy sighed, letting the man pull her around, out of the factory and towards a parked police car. _Damn,_ she thought desperately. _Giles is going to flip!_

(v)

Hoover FBI building

Washington DC, June 15th 2009

Seeley Booth groaned and rubbed his hand down his face as he sat outside the shooting range in the lower floors of the FBI building. He had been reinstated in the agency just a couple of days ago, but he was still waiting to get his gun license back. He had been talking to Dr. Sweets about his 'feelings', he had just solved his first case since having the surgery and he was quietly relieved that he still knew how to do the FBI-Agent thing.

He took another deep breath; he was nervous, which was silly. He had done these range tests every couple of years since he had entered the FBI. He was a superb shot, he hadn't missed in years, and he wasn't bragging. He knew he was good; he was even willing to bet that he was one of the best shots in the FBI.

He sighed again; no, his nervousness had nothing to do with the test, and everything to do with the fact he'd had another of those weird dreams last night, he hadn't slept well at all and the dream had left him tossing and turning. Even now, hours later the memory was etched into his brain. He shook his head desperately and placed his head in his hands as he remembered the strange dream.

_The apartment was dark, he paused in the doorway and snarled softly. "What the hell are you doing here, Darla?" he snapped, stepping further into the room and closing the door behind him._

_There was a giggle from the corner and a short, blonde, young woman wearing a catholic schoolgirl's uniform stepped forward. He reached out and turned a the table lamp on, revealing her small heart-shaped face. Her blue eyes were wide and knowing, her mouth turned up into a cruel, seductive smile. She gripped the edge of her short skirt and pulled it out, cocking her head to the side. "You like?" she whispered, bending her knee and tilting her hips as she looked up at him through hooded lashes._

_He was angry, but he wasn't sure why. "Last time I saw you it was Kimonos," he murmured, his voice perfectly controlled_

_She sneered at him. "And last time I saw you it wasn't high school girls," she snapped, her eyes flashing dangerously._

_He sighed. "What are you doing here, Darla?" he asked again in annoyance._

_The young woman sighed and took a few steps forwards so she was standing just in front of him. She placed a cool palm over his chest. "Come, join us. Let the blood of the innocent flow in our wake again." Her smile was predatory_

_He shook his head. "I'm not like you," he snapped, a low snarl rumbling in his chest._

_Darla glared and took a step back to the window, she grabbed the rope holding the blinds closed and pulled, the blind snapped up and sunlight streamed into the room. He hissed and jumped back into the shadows._

_On the other side of the room, Darla's startling blue eyes looked at him in contempt. "Maybe not," she murmured. "But your not exactly one of them either."_

"Agent Booth," a strong clear voice, sounded in his ear.

Booth jumped, startled, and looked up. Another agent stood in front of him, looking a little annoyed. "You're up," he told him.

Booth nodded, got to his feet and followed the other agent into the shooting range. They checked his ID again, handed him a standard issue gun, a pair of goggles, and ear muffs before directing him to a free range.

Booth took his time, checking the gun, steadying his hand and taking a deep breath. Finally he nodded and gave the thumbs up towards the young official before slowly raised his gun.

He fired it in quick succession, keeping both of his eyes open and holding his arms steady as he let of a quick round of shots. Each muffled 'boom' was followed by a quick jerk as the gun recoiled. Finally there was a click of an empty chamber and Booth lowered the gun, a small smile finally making an appearance for the first time that day.

The official pressed a button on the panel beside the cubical and the cardboard target was rolled towards them. When it stopped just a few meters in front of him, Booth's smile became wider. A cluster of bullet holes surrounded the area on the left side of its upper chest, over the place where a heart would have beaten. The official leaned forward and then turned to him with a smile on her face.

"Well done Agent Booth," she said, writing a few things in her notes. "I believe you've just passed."

Booth smiled back, and took of his earmuffs and goggles and placed the safety back on the gun. "Thanks, I hate when I don't have my gun. I just feel so naked without it you know?" he replied. The official blinked, looking startled then she blushed slightly and ducked her head in embarrassment.

Booth was completely unaware of the hopeless woman's blush, and turned away. "I'm assuming I'll get my own gun back, not this standard issue crap?" he asked her.

The woman, who seemed to get her emotions under control, smiled up at the tall agent. "Certainly, I wouldn't use one of the standards either."

Booth grinned back and walked with her to the desk where she filled out a number of forms and got him to sign a few official looking documents before she reached into the shelves behind her and pulled out a plain box handing him his gun. He turned the Glock over in his hands, feeling the familiar weight of the weapon and the smooth feel of the metal in his hands. He grinned, pulled the holster out of the box as well and fastened it around his waist.

"Is that all?" he asked.

The woman nodded. "Yeah, but…"

"Great!" He smirked. "Hope to never see you again; and I mean that not how it sounded."

The young woman smiled again as he turned and walked out of the room. Then she shook her head.

"Focus," she muttered to herself before she pulled out another stack of documents and started sorting through them.

(v)

The Police Station

Cleveland Ohio, June 15th 2009

Buffy leaned forward and rested her chin in her hands; she was in a stark-white interview room. One wall had a mirror across the length; she knew it was one of those two-way mirrors where the police officers could stand on the other side and gossip about her without her realising they were there.

"Pervs," she muttered to herself, tossing her hair over her shoulders as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. It had been hours since she had been brought in, stuffed in the nearest interview room, the handcuffs had been removed and they had shut the door behind them. She had been here all night and hadn't seen anyone else; she was getting nervous, and angry.

She sighed and shifted in her seat again. Finally she heard a click as the door opened. She looked up at a tall thin man, who appeared to be in his late forties, his hair was a pale brown and thinning at the top, his grey eyes calculating. The other man was younger, about thirty, his hair was dark and he had a goatee and dark blue eyes.

They both walked into the room. The taller, older man didn't smile as he sat down but the younger one offered her a small grin. Buffy felt the corners of her mouth turning up into a smile in relief, she felt herself relaxing in his presence. Until his smile turned into a smirk and he leered at her, his eyes wandering over her curves.

Buffy narrowed her eyes, glaring, before turning her head and looking at the older cop. He looked her in the eye. "I'm Detective Parsons, this is Detective Jacobs." He paused and scratched his chin while he opened a file, pulled out a photo and turned it towards her. She looked down and felt her blood run cold, it was a mug shot, of her, taken at the Sunnydale police station at the time that she had been accused of killing Ted, an old boyfriend of her mothers, who also happened to be a robot.

She sucked in a deep breath and glanced up. "That was a long time ago," she said, "and I didn't do it."

Detective Parsons raised an eyebrow and placed his hands on the table as he looked her in the eye. "Yet the detectives in Sunnydale thought it was worth looking into," he said harshly.

Buffy looked down and shifted in her seat. "Are you charging me with something?" she asked softly.

Detective Parsons opened his mouth to reply when the door opened again. A younger female officer in a uniform popped her head in, her dark hair was pulled back into a no-nonsense ponytail. She beckoned to Parsons who excused himself, got up and slipped out of the room.

Detective Jacobs smirked at her again, raising his eyebrows. Buffy glared at him and turned her head away, ignoring the sleaze of a detective.

The door opened again and Detective Parsons walked back into the room looking grim. He sat down again. "Forensics is there now," he started. "The commanding officer at the field just called in. There was a basement in the factory, it was full of bodies."

Buffy mouth popped open. "What?" she whispered in horror.

But Detective Parsons wasn't finished. He cleared his throat. "They were in various states of decay, some had looked like they had been there for years, decades even," he looked down and closed her file.

Buffy felt a glimmer of hope as Parsons looked her in the eye again, his grey eyes unblinking and calculating. "I'm going to ask you to stay in the city. Some of the bodies are so decomposed our forensic team will find it difficult to identify them," he murmured. "You need to stay here until we identify the rest of the bodies."

Buffy swallowed thickly. "I'm still a suspect?" she asked.

Parsons inclined his head. "You're still a person of interest; and I would like to know what you were doing in that factory." Parsons leaned forward again. "Now," he asked softly, keeping his voice low and soothing, "Why were you in that factory?"

Buffy bit her lip. "I was taking a walk…I heard a noise…" she began "I-I walked in and noticed two guys and a body lying on the floor." she bit her lip. "They ran away, and I was about to follow when you guys turned up."

"You ran," detective Parsons pointed out to her

She nodded. "I panicked," she lied.

(v)

Washington DC

Later that same day

Booth had just gotten out of his car, heading towards the entrance to the Jeffersonian when his phone started to ring.

He reached into his suit pocket and quickly pulled out the state-of-the-art phone. "Booth," he barked into the receiver as he walked quickly up the stone steps and into the Jeffersonian.

He listened intently to his director on the other end of the phone. "We'll be there tomorrow," he answered after his boss had finished talking. "Right….Bye." He pressed 'end' and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

He pushed the door to the lab open and sauntered into the room. He swiped his card past the little sensor and ran up the stairs. "Bones!" he called in greeting. The anthropologist was standing in the middle of the platform, a skeleton in front of her. Hodgins was standing on the other side, pointing to a few things on the computer screen beside them.

She turned and smiled at him. "Booth, you got your gun back."

He grinned and nodded, placing his hand on his holster. "Yeah, just had to shoot at a target, easy as pie." He stopped beside her and looked down at the skeleton. "Who's this?" he asked curiously.

"Seventeenth century sailor, found at the bottom of an excavation pit on the edge of the river," she muttered. "Just going to work out how he died, then he's going to the museum."

Booth raised his eyebrows. "Fascinating…anyway…we've just got a new case."

Bones nodded as she picked up the skull and examined it critically. "Oh….what is it?" she asked.

"Multiple skeletons found in an abandoned warehouse in Cleveland," he said.

"Cleveland?" Bones looked at him and frowned. "Isn't that where Buffy Summers lives?" she asked raising an eyebrow and giving him an exasperated look.

"Stranger things have happened." he said with a smile.

"Are you sure this has nothing to do with her? I mean you've been dreaming about her…you drew her picture…" She asked him.

Booth glared at her. "This has nothing to do with Buffy," he told her again. "Yeah, sure, I would love to know what the hell is going on. Shit, Bones, I _need_ to know what the hell is going on…but that's not the reason while I'm taking this case." He sighed again. "The police don't have the skills to identify them all…the state of decomposition is too high, which means _you_ , and with the lack of records, and the victims crossing state lines…well that means it's the FBI's job, _our_ job."

Bones put the skull back down on the bench, and looked at him silently. She could see the earnest expression on his face, and the hard look in his eyes. He wanted to do this, he needed this case. Finally, she sighed and nodded. "Just let me get this skeleton bagged up and I'll pack some things and we can go," she said.

(v)

A few hours later

Booth and Brennan were sitting in coach on a United American Airlines flight from DC to Cleveland. They had managed to get the last seats on the last flight of the day. It was extremely good luck. After Brennan had stored the skeleton, they had gone to Booth's house, where he had packed a bag, before going to Brennan's apartment, where she had packed three.

They had just managed to get to the flight in time, running through the terminal, Booth flashing his badge so they didn't have to wait to be searched.

Now they were sitting in, well, relative comfort, chatting and looking through the case files that Booth had picked up from his office. There were pages upon pages of photos of the scene. The burial site looked like an excavation you would find on an archaeological dig, scaffolding and planks holding the earth back as a forensic team searched for more and more bodies. There were a few pictures of the bodies, showing where they were found. There were even a few notes on the condition of the warehouse. At the moment, only five of the bodies had been identified.

After a few hours Booth sighed and placed the files back in his briefcase and leaned back in his chair. "Wake me up when we're getting ready to land," he muttered to Bones, who was sitting next to him on the window seat, curled up and engrossed in a book. She nodded absently and turned a page. Booth sighed and wriggled down in his seat and closed his eyes. He started to dream.

_The first pictures were fuzzy and jumbled, random images with no connection to each other. There was a swirling flash of blue light, a dark cave and a black convertible crashing through a green field. Finally the pictures settled and he found himself in a large stone room; there was a red velvet carpet leading up to a dais and a thrown. Sitting in the thrown was a beautiful golden-skinned girl with short dark hair. She was wearing a golden bikini and a shimmering, sheer skirt. Every movement sent the garment jiggling; she beamed at him, her smile wide and bright. "Look, they made me princess!" she laughed._

Booth muttered in his sleep, turning onto his side and tucking his arm under his chin, he started to snore softly. Beside him, Brennan glanced down at the top of his head and smiled, the corner of her mouth twitching in amusement before she turned back to her book and turned the page. Booth's dream changed again to something much more frightening, and strange.

_He was in a small dark place. Like a closet. Only not. The weight of centuries of oppression sat on his shoulders, his whole body was humming. He heard a soft rattling and a sliver of pale light appeared in front of him. Through a slatted piece of wood he saw a small door open and a girl wearing a white veil and simple white old-fashioned dress entered the other side of the confessional. She sat down and closed the door, bowing her head in a prayer. He chuckled softly and wiped the side of his mouth._

_Booth heard the girl whisper softly, "Forgive me father, for I have sinned, it has been two day's since my last confession."_

_He paused, and Booth felt a chilling delight in the girl's admission. "That's…not very long," he whispered, his mouth curving into an amused smirk._

_He wondered what he was doing here. The girl sniffed and wiped her eyes. "I have been seeing again father, visions," she whispers._

" _What things?" he asked softly. He was curious and wondered why the girl called him father? Did she think he was a priest?_

" _Horrible things! Two days ago I felt an awful tremor and my insides all knotted in terror. Last night there was a cave in, in the coal mines, two men died." Her voice was soft. "My mother said I'm a cursed," she whispered._

_His eyebrows rose in interest. "Did ya now?" he murmured interested. "Not to worry lass, you're not a cursed. Ya satan's child."_

" _The devil? No," she whispered, shaking her head._

" _Yes the devil, wicked girl!" he said with amusement. A soft little whimper answered his admission and he chuckled darkly. Inside Booth felt his blood freeze at the sound._

" _No, Father! No! I want to be good, I want to be pure!" she screamed, tears running down her cheeks._

_He laughed, a low chuckle. "Don't worry lass," he said again reaching up and placing his palm over the wooden slats that separated them. "God is watching over you!"_

"Booth!" yelled Brennan.

Booth jerked awake with a gasp, floundering in his seat he looked around frantically. Brennan placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and he gave a start, turning his head and looking at her. "You ok?" she asked softly, her voice lowered in concern.

Slowly he took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah," he muttered, sitting up straight and wiping a hand down his face. "Yeah, I'm fine…"

Bones watched as he looked away, a worried look on her face. She hoped he was going to be ok, these new memories seemed to be more trouble than they were worth.

 


	4. Chapter 4

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 4

Cleveland, Ohio,

Buffy sighed loudly as she pushed the doors to the school open and trudged inside; behind her the sun was just sinking over the tops of the buildings. It was sunset and she had been at the police station all day and most of the previous night. Detective Parsons had grilled her vigorously, asking her all sorts of questions about what she did and why she was at the factory. Buffy had told him she was a teacher (which wasn't really a lie) and that she worked at a school for gifted girls, (which was also not exactly a lie) but she didn't mention anything about being a Slayer, or about the real reason she was at the factory.

She walked into the large office on the side of the hall. Giles was sitting behind the large desk, a stack of papers piled up in front of him. He looked up as Buffy walked in, and got to his feet.

"Good lord!" he exclaimed. "What in the blazes happened to you?" He walked around the desk and stood in front of her.

Buffy sighed, and rolled her eyes. "One word, Giles," she said, "Police."

Giles eyes widened and he sat onto the top of the desk. "Are you ok?" he asked quietly.

Buffy nodded, walked to a vacant chair and sat down. She sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "I was patrolling; I dusted a couple of vamps, but then the police came. They caught me….but Giles that's not the worst thing."

"What?" he asked.

"It was a nest, Giles. An old nest….there were bodies, hundreds of them buried and dumped under the warehouse."

"Good lord," Giles exclaimed again, this time taking off his glasses and cleaning them vigorously. "A nest right under our noses, that hasn't happened in a while…"

Buffy nodded. "We're getting complacent," she said, feeling angry with herself. She paused then and looked up at her former watcher. "At least the police don't think I'm a suspect, thankfully…something to do with the bodies being so old and stuff." She sighed. "But I need to find out what the hell those vampires were up too," she told him.

Giles nodded. "Yes….yes of course." He sighed again. "I'll call in the morning….we'll have a meeting tomorrow afternoon and you can tell the others what you think."

Buffy nodded and got up. "That will be good thanks. You ok here?"

He nodded. "I'm just finishing of a bit of paperwork…another two Slayers have been found. I'm arranging for them to be transferred by the end of the month."

"More of them? When Willow did that spell I never realised there would be so many." She got up and headed towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Giles," she told him with a smile before she headed out the door.

"Night Buffy," the watcher sighed softly, got up and walked behind his desk before sitting down again. He picked up a stack of papers and a pen and started writing.

(v)

Buffy opened the door to her small apartment and smiled as a tiny dark-haired blur ploughed into her. She took a quick step back as the tiny arms wrapped around her waist. She looked down. "Robbie!" she yelled in delight before scooping down and picking Faith's little bundle of energy up. The five year old boy grinned in delight and wrapped her arms around her neck.

"Mommy and me were worried about you," he told her with a small pout.

Buffy smiled and closed the door behind her. "Well neither of you needed to be," she told him softly as she walked through the living room.

When she first moved to Cleveland she shared this apartment with Dawn. But that was a long time ago now; Dawn had moved out when she left for college, and once she married Connor, they got their own place. Now they were in Russia, and Buffy didn't know when they would be back.

She had been living with Faith and her son for the past three years. Faith had been finding it harder and harder to pay her rent and look after Robbie at the same time. So Buffy had suggested they share the apartment, it had three small bedrooms, a large living room and kitchen. Faith had thought about it for perhaps half a minute. She had looked down at the little bundle in her arms then had looked up at Buffy, and had given a rare smile. "Thanks, B," she had whispered.

The arrangement had not been without its hassles. Faith was no longer the wild child she had been, only having had a few boyfriends since Robin had died, none of which had lasted longer then a few dates. But she still had a fiery attitude and the innate ability to piss Buffy off. They would never exactly be friends, but these last couple of years they had both managed to earn each other's respect.

Buffy often thought of Robbie as a little cousin or brother, and would help out whenever she could. She would babysit if Faith had a date, or if the other Slayer wanted to patrol alone, as they both liked to do occasionally. Robbie was the son of a demon hunter, was as stubborn as a bull and as quick as a cheetah. To say he was a handful was the understatement of the century.

They had their problems, Faith and Buffy would fight all the time. But for the most part, it was an arrangement that suited both Slayers.

Buffy smiled at Robbie again and ruffled his hair playfully as she walked into the kitchen. Faith was sitting at the kitchen table; a bowl of salad and a large box of fried chicken were sitting on the table.

"Hey B!" She smirked. "I was wondering where you got to." She held out her arms and Buffy passed Robbie back to the other Slayer.

Faith kissed Robbie on the cheek, causing the little boy to make a face, Faith and Buffy both laughed. She shook her head, still smiling, and pushed her blonde hair away from her face as she grabbed a plate, sat down and started serving herself some salad and chicken. "You wouldn't believe where I've been." she said, taking her fork and spearing a piece of cheese.

She smiled at Robbie as he picked out a chicken drumstick and stuck it in his mouth. "Umm," he muttered.

Buffy laughed at the little boys antics. Faith looked down at her little boy, a warm happy smile on her face as she reached down and ruffled his hair. "Little scamp," she muttered.

"Ugh…Mom," the little boy complained, squirming of her lap and sitting down on the chair beside her.

Faith smiled and took another piece of chicken from the box. "So what happened?"

Buffy sighed softly and told Faith about the vampires, the warehouse, and the mayhem that followed.

Faith's eyes widened. "Shit," she exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror.

Robbie looked up, and pulled the chicken leg from his mouth. "Swear Jar!" he yelled in triumph, pointing at the counter and bouncing in his seat.

Buffy started laughing as Faith mock-scowled at Robbie before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a dollar bill. With a roll of her eyes she got up and dropped it in the swear jar on the edge of the counter. Robbie laughed in delight and clapped his hands.

Buffy smirked as she used her knife and fork to cut a piece of chicken. "Smooth Faith, real smooth."

(v)

Booth's Hotel Room

Cleveland, Ohio, June 16th 2009

Booth was sitting on the bed, a new sketchbook that he had bought at the corner store resting on his knees. His eyes were focused on the picture forming on the page. He wanted it just right.

There was a soft knock on the door and he sighed softly, got up and walked across the room to open it. Brennan walked into the room, her hair bouncing in her ponytail. She smiled. "You ready?" she asked. "I want to get those skeletons identified as soon as possible."

Booth nodded absently and moved to the dresser to grab his keys and wallet. Brennan noticed the sketchbook lying open on the top of the bed and picked it up curiously. She flicked through the pages; there were a number of sketches of both men and women. There were a couple of teenagers…and a sleeping baby. She saw a number of pictures she recognised as Buffy Summers, but there were also ones of a dark haired girl with long wavy hair, her eyes wide and crazy, a dark haired boy, and a young man with a scar over his eyebrow and sunken cheekbones. His hair was long and tied at the nape of his neck; she flicked another page and saw another blonde woman, a haughty expression on her face.

Booth noticed her looking through the book and his eyes narrowed. He stalked over to her, snatched it from her hand and threw it onto the table.

She looked up into his eyes and bit her lip. "The dreams haven't stopped?" she asked softly, her voice full of concern.

He shook his head as he shrugged on his jack and buttoned in up. "No," he replied.

"Booth…" she began.

"Save it, Bones, I'm fine," he told her quickly, trying to avoid another discussion on the matter.

She rolled her eyes and indicated the sketchbook. "You're drawing people you've only seen in dreams, You're not fine, Booth." She said, growing angry, and annoyed at his blasé attitude.

Booth just shrugged. "I'm working it out, Bones, ok, give me time." He sighed and rubbed his forehead

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said quietly. He turned and walked to the door. Bones paused for a second then followed. At the door she laid her hand gently on his arm and looked up into his dark eyes, they were looking more and more haunted every day.

"It's just…you don't have to do this alone Booth, I'm here, I want to help," she told him earnestly.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he smiled softly, he reached up and grabbed her hand on his arm and squeezed it tight. "I know, Bones, I know," he said. "You're a great friend." Then he laughed and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them and putting the key in his pocket as he started walking down the hall.

"Now," he muttered, "Let's go check out some dead people."

Brennan rolled her eyes and shook her head as she turned and followed him down the hall.

(v)

The crime scene

A few hours later

Bones pulled on a pair of plastic, forensic gloves and bent down to look at a skull that wasn't attached to a body.

She frowned as she picked it up and examined it closely. "African American," she murmured to herself. "Judging from the wear of the teeth the victim was in his mid to late fifties." She rubbed her thumb over the skull. "Indentations in the bone indicate the late stages of Osteomyelitis." She frowned and placed the skull on the ground before straitening up and looking around the excavated space under the basement of the building.

At the moment a dozen different remains could be seen buried in the earth, they were all in various states of decay. It was going to be a massive job identifying all the victims and this wasn't even all of the bodies. Over thirty had already been transferred to the police station and were being stored there, waiting for a more detailed autopsy and for dental records to be gathered for identification.

For those that could not be identified by the standard way, Bones planned to take photos of the skulls and send the pictures to Angela, along with flesh measurements. She was hopping the artist would be able to sketch an accurate face, and then they would be able to identify the victims.

Booth stood a few feet away, a pen and a notebook in his hands. He waved it around to indicate the rest of the remains. "What about the others?" he muttered.

Bones frowned and pointed to a skeleton a few feet away. "Caucasian, male, twenty-five to thirty." She frowned as she moved closer and knelt by the bones.

"Cause of death?" he asked.

"Broken neck," she answered immediately.

_He watched her from the back of the classroom, the light from the computer screen illuminating her pretty, striking features. He waited patiently._

_A few seconds later she looked up and gasped in horror, throwing her head back and standing up quickly, backing up hastily. "What are you doing here?" she whispered._

_He chuckled. "The sign at the front of the school…'Formatia trans sicere educatorum." he smirked evilly._

" _Enter those who seek knowledge," she whispered her shoulders slumping in defeat._

_He chuckled. "Well, what can I say, I'm a knowledge seeker." He grinned, standing up he stalked towards her._

_The woman backed away hastily, quivering in fear. "Angel…" she whispers. "I-I have good news."_

" _I heard," he murmured as he stops on the other side of the desk, leaned his knuckles on the wood and looked her in the eye. "You went shopping at the local boogety -boogety store." He smirked and looked down at the desk. He noticed the crystal orb and picked it up, twirling it in his hands. "Ah…The Orb of Thesulah…if memory serves, this is supposed to summon a person's soul, from the ether…and store it until it can be restored." As he held the Orb in his hands it started to glow with a golden light, he glanced up at the woman and smirked._

_The woman backed away from him, stumbling and leaning against the wall._

_He felt himself smile. "You know what I hate about these things?" he started conversationally. He grinned and threw the Orb at the blackboard, shattering it into a million pieces. "They're just so damn fragile." He chuckled. Must be that shitty gypsy craftsmanship."_

_The woman was shaking; she slowly edged away, heading towards the door._

_He growled softly and she stopped. Slowly he reached out, grabbed the PC and turned it so he can see the monitor. "It never ceases to amaze me, how much the world has changed in two hundred and fifty years," he muttered in something akin to awe._

" _You put the secrets to restoring my soul in here," he shoved the computer of the desk and it crashed to the floor, "and it comes out here." He walked a few steps to the printer and ripped out the printout. He started to tear it up._

" _Wait!" The woman shouted frantically. "That's your…"_

" _What? Cure?" he chuckled darkly. "No thanks, been there, done that…and déjà vu just isn't what it used to be."_

_Throwing the computer on the floor had caused it to burst into flames. They crackled softly, setting of a warm glow and throwing the room into shadow. He walked over to the computer and kneeled down, warming his hands in front of the flames. "My…isn't this my lucky day. The computer and the pages…guess I get to kill two birds with one stone." He smirked and turned his face to watch the woman standing near the door._

_He felt his face shift strangely and growled low under his breath. "And teacher makes three," he whispered, his voice sounding strange to his ears as he stood up slowly._

" _No!" she yelled frantically._

_He jumped up, crossing the distance between them in a manner of seconds. He grabbed her around the shoulders, growling in her face and then throwing her against the door. She crashed through it, sprawling on the tiles in the corridor. She looked up at him, her face completely frozen in terror. Then she scrambled to her feet and started to run._

_He chuckled and growled softly. "Oh, good. I need to work up an appetite first," he said, running after her._

_He followed her through the dimly lit corridors of what looked like any typical American high school. Lockers lined the wide corridors, the walls painted a sickly off white. Posters announcing the next football game, or dance are taped to the walls. He ran up a flight of steps, melting into the shadows and waited until she rushed past. As she ran past the window, he reached out and grabbed her. She gasped in terror and he smiled down at her. He held her neck with one hand as he slowly placed his finger over her lips, silencing the scream in her throat._

" _Sorry, Jenny," he said to her quietly, "But this is where you get off."_

_With that he moved his hands, gripping the side of her neck in both his palms and twisting savagely. The sound of her neck snapping echoed sickeningly in the dark corridor. He let_ _s_ _the body drop to the floor. "Ah," he murmured, tilting the head to the side as he rolls his shoulders back and cracks his neck. "I never get tired of doing that."_

He started, and shook his head frantically before looking up to find the anthropologist staring at him strangely. "I'm fine," he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck, "Just fine…" He looked around as he tried to remember where he was.

Bones frowned and walked over to him, she licked her lips and stopped in front of him. "Booth…" she began quietly.

He looked up at her and his eyes darkened as he glanced behind her, trying to avoid her concerned gaze. "Let's just get this done ok!" he snapped, shaking his head and walking a few steps away in an effort to distance himself from the memories.

Bones bit her lip and nodded reluctantly as she sighed. "Ok, let's get these remains back to the morgue as quickly as possible." She turned around and called out to the forensic investigators. She walked over to one young woman. "Can you take some soil samples?" she asked the CSI agent. "I can send them to an expert." The young woman nodded and took out a number of evidence bags and started collecting samples of the dirt around the remains.

Bones watched her closely, trying to keep her face impassive and free from worry as she noticed Booth glance around and rub the back of his neck again as he shook his head frantically.

(v)

In the police morgue, an hour later, Bones was finally making some headway with the victims. Over half of them had already been identified with dental records; the other half would require a bit more work. She had already instructed one of the forensic team to take photos so that they could be sent to Angela, and hopefully get some information in the missing person's database.

Booth was at the other side of the room, his arms crossed over his chest defensively as he talked to Detective Parsons. The Cleveland officer was explaining how this had come about, waving his arms around dramatically and frowning as he handed Booth a manila folder. The FBI agent opened the folder and froze; Brennan could hear his shocked gasp from across the room. She frowned in concern.

"Bones!" he called out desperately.

The anthropologist stopped what she was doing, ripped the plastic gloves off her hands and hurried over. He turned the folder and showed Bones the mug shot of Buffy. This photo showed an older Buffy, her hair was pulled back and her hazel eyes showed pain and suffering beyond her years. The date at the bottom of the picture showed it to be a couple of days previously. The anthropologist's eyes widened and she gasped too, snatching the folder from his hands and studying it intently.

"Booth…this is." she looked up at him in disbelief.

Detective Parson's raised an eyebrow. "Do you know this woman?" he asked, his voice taking on an edge of accusation as he pointed at Buffy's picture.

_What a loaded question_ Booth thought as he glanced at Bones out of the corner of his eye. The anthropologist was still staring at the photo in shock. He cleared his throat and took the folder from Bones before she could blurt out something incriminating. "No," he said as he shifted on his feet. "Why do you have Miss Summer's file?" he asked curiously, raising an eyebrow as he tried to get the conversation back on track.

The Detective cleared his throat and scratched the side of his nose. "She was on the scene when the police arrived; there was a disturbance, some people called 911 when they heard shouting. A few of my men found her in the warehouse." He paused and looked Booth in the eye. "But I don't think she has anything to do with any of these murders, I'm good at reading people and Miss Summers isn't a killer." He shrugged.

"Some of these bodies have been dead for over 50 years," Bones said.

Detective Parson's nodded and handed Booth a sheet of paper. "I've asked Miss Summers to keep in contact; she is still a person of interest. This is her address if you have any questions…" Booth looked down and frowned nervously. It looked like he was going to get those answers after all, sooner rather then later.

(v)

Almost an hour later Booth and Brennan were in his rented black SUV, driving towards the Council building that had been listed as Buffy's workplace. They had already tried her apartment but nobody had been home.

Booth was smiling, he was so glad to be back in the FBI with his badge, his gun, and his rented car. It was much better then the last one he had. He smirked as the big, black, beast of a car roared down the highway. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to drive a convertible.

Bones sat in the passenger seat as she flicked through the case files, studying them intently and frowning slightly. Booth smiled at her, and then slowed the car slightly as he turned a corner. A few minutes later he saw the old, Victorian building that was the council headquarters and pulled up onto the curb in front of the school.

Both of them got out of the car, and closed the doors behind them. Booth locked it, and stuffed the keys in his pocket. They both turned and looked up at the building. "Hum…" he muttered. "What exactly does this 'Council' do?"

Bones shook her head. "The files just mentioned it being the governing body of the school across the road." She pointed to the more modern building on the other side of the tree-lined street. It was a three story white brick building with a high metal gate around the property. There was a large sign out in front proclaiming it was _Summer's Academy for Gifted Girls_.

Booth just raised an eyebrow as he walked up the final couple of steps and opened the door. Bones slipped in beside him and they wandered down a couple of stone steps into the lobby and looked around. It was a beautiful old building, the tiles on the floor arranged in an intricate pattern. There were a few black leather couches arranged in the middle of the entrance hall, and a few potted palms placed in the corners around the room. Across from them was a large ornately carved grand staircase; on the right against one wall was a large reception desk.

Booth frowned in annoyance. "Hello?" he called loudly as he looked around the large lobby.

Harmony gasped and sat up, she had been sitting on the floor behind her desk sorting out a stack of papers. She jumped up. The smile that had been plastered on her face quickly disappeared. She frowned in confusion and blinked. "Bossy?" she muttered, tilting her head to the side.

Booth took a quick step back as the blonde just appeared out of nowhere. "Um…no," he said, looking at the young woman in confusion as he took a couple of steps towards her. "Actually it's Booth. Agent Booth." He raised an eyebrow and reached into his pocket to show her his badge. "Is Buffy Summer's here?"

Harmony blinked and took a quick look at the badge, now even more confused then before. "Er…sure?" she muttered with a shrug before she smiled again brightly and walked out from behind her desk, revealing her bright yellow top and polka dot ruffled skirt with matching sky high yellow pumps. "Follow me." She beamed, turning around and crossing the length of the lobby and started ascending the stairs.

Booth raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Bones. They both followed the blonde receptionist up the flight of stairs and down another hall. Harmony knocked on a set of double doors and poked her head into the office. "Buffy? There is an Agent Booth from the FBI here to see you?" she said.

Inside the office Buffy looked up and blinked. She glanced around at the rest of the Scoobies and blushed slightly in embarrassment. "Um…."

Giles looked over at the blonde vampire, still amazed that Buffy had given her a job. "Send him in," he called.

Harmony nodded in agreement and ducked back out of the room. She turned around and smiled at Booth and Brennan. "She's in there with Mr Giles and her associates."

Booth nodded and stepped through the door as Harmony walked away. He found himself in a large office; it was warm and cosy, with a large rug on the floor. In one corner was a large desk, on the other side of the room a number of large comfy black-leather seats were placed in a large circle surrounded by a small coffee table. On the far end of the room was a bookcase covering the entire back wall. It was filled with large textbooks and other odds and ends.

There were about six people in the room, one he immediately recognised as Buffy Summers. They all turned and the looks he received were a mixture of horror and disbelief. The bleach-blonde haired man standing in the back corner looked like he had seen a ghost.

He heard the little redhead gasp.

He paused then, cocking an eyebrow in amusement as he felt Bones come up to stand beside him. He cleared his throat and held up his badge. "I'm Agent Booth from the FBI, this is my partner, Temperance Brennan." He looked at Buffy. "I'm here to ask Miss Summers a few questions."

His announcement was met with stunned silence, he saw Buffy turn her head and look at the older man with wide eyes. He looked flustered, but cleared his throat loudly as he stood up. He walked towards them and held out his hand, Booth took it and gave it a shake. "I'm Mr Giles," the older man introduced himself, revealing an English accent in the process. "I'm the CEO of the Council. Buffy has done nothing wrong."

Booth looked the older man in the eye. "I believe that is for me to find out," he stated.

Standing next to Booth, Bones smiled nervously as she looked around the room. She noticed Giles and offered her own hand; the older Watcher glanced at her briefly and smiled before he shook her hand as well. "Have you worked here…?" Bones started to ask before she gasped loudly, her eyes opening wide as she glanced down at the large hand clasped in her own. "What happened to your hand?" she breathed, her voice taking on a panicked edge.

Everyone in the room froze and Booth tensed. "Bones!" he hissed, embarrassed at her actions.

He noticed that the blonde guy in the corner was watching him intently, his blue eyes never leaving his face and that the guy with the eye patch was incredibly white, and was looking between the redhead and Miss Summers frantically. He glared at them angrily; he supposed it was because they were feeling worried about him, being an FBI agent after all, but it left him feeling uncomfortable that they were staring at him so intently.

But Bones wasn't listening. "It's completely shattered." she whispered in disbelief, shaking her head and failing to notice the look of horror on Buffy's face.

Giles glanced around at Booth and noticed his complete lack of recognition. He pondered that for a second before he turned back to the anthropologist. He cleared his throat. "Um…a bookcase fell on it," he murmured, hoping Bones would quit holding his hand.

Dr Brennan frowned and shook her head slowly; her bright blue eyes were troubled. "No, no these break's are much too small for that, their delicate…almost careful…" suddenly her eyes widened in horror and she looked up at Giles in disbelief as she gasped. Before Booth could ask what was wrong she had dropped Mr. Giles hand as if it was a hot poker and took a hasty step back. "I'm sorry," she murmured, feeling incredibly foolish. "I had no idea, I'm sorry I pried."

Giles blinked in confusion before he cleared his throat. "That's quiet all right," he managed to mutter around the painful lump in his throat. Booth glanced between Brennan and Giles, and raised his eyebrows. Something strange was definitely going on.

Buffy licked her lips, stood up and walked towards them. Booth's eyes never left hers as she smiled slightly and stood in front of him. He found himself noticing the little highlights in her hair, the light dusting of freckles on her nose, and the glittering of green and gold in her hair. He stared, unblinking, his breathing picking up as she continued to stare at him.

"Booth." Bones said, and nudged him in the ribs, startling him out of his revelry.

Buffy let out a shaky breath and ducked her head as she smiled.

Bones frowned at Booth and shook her head as he continued to stare at the little blonde. The others in the room had gotten up and walked over. She smiled at them, her eyes taking in their features, analysing them. The little redhead held out her hand. "I'm Willow," she introduced herself. "I'm a big fan of your books." She smiled. "Are the cases based on real life murders, or do you just make them up. Are any of the characters based on any of your friends?"

Bones blinked. "Thank you," she said, feeling a little uncomfortable at Willow's enthusiasm. As a way to avoid Willow's gaze she looked down at the silver pentagram around Willow's neck and took in the old fashioned green dress she wore. "You're Wiccan?" she announced quietly, smiling slightly. At Willow's startled blink the anthropologist smiled. "I study human culture, Wiccan is an old religion, dedicated to nurturing the earth." She smiled again.

Willow glanced around. "And you can tell what religion I am, just by shaking my hand?" she asked in disbelief. "Wow!"

Booth grinned at Bones proudly. "She does that," he told them all matter-of-factly.

The anthropologist just rolled her eyes and gave him a look "It was your pendant," she told Willow, pointing at the necklace. "Many people believe the pentagram is a symbol of Satan, but the pentagram is actually a protection symbol used by the ancient pagan gods."

Willow nodded. "I know, so many people give me wary looks when they see it." She grinned.

Booth cleared his throat and glanced at Buffy out of the corner of his eye. He still couldn't believe it. She was beautiful, tiny and delicate. "So, can I ask you about what you saw?" he asked, reaching into his pocket and taking out a notebook and pen.

Her nervousness was obvious as she glanced around the room, looking at Giles and the two other men he didn't know. Finally she seemed to make up her mind, nodding to herself and sitting back down, perching on the armrest of a chair. Willow and Giles both sat down as well.

Booth cleared his throat, and started asking her about everything that had happened that night.

Finally when he was done she looked him right in the eye. "Do you think I did this?" she asked him harshly.

Booth shook his head "Nope." He said.

At the Scooby's shocked look, Bones explained. "Some of the bodies have been dead for fifty years." She said.

Booth gave her a look and Bones fell silent again. Booth closed the notebook. "Well, Miss Summers, thank you for your time." He took a step forward and offered his hand. Buffy looked up at him startled and then smiled as she took his hand and shook it. As his large hand wrapped around her own, Buffy's eyes opened wide at the warmth of his palm.

Booth held onto her hand for perhaps a second too long before he stepped back hastily, breaking contact and turning to look at Bones. Brennan smiled and walked towards him and they both turned to leave.

Buffy jumped to her feet. "Wait!" she gasped.

Booth paused with his hand on the doorknob. He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?" he asked quietly as he turned towards her.

Buffy licked her lips. "Um…I just. I want to help," she said, shifting on her feet slightly as his dark eyes looked into her soul.

Booth raised an eyebrow, looked her over and then smiled lazily. "Thanks, but we've got this," he told her evenly. He opened the door, and motioned to Bones to go ahead. The anthropologist slipped out of the room, Booth followed, glancing back and smiling at Buffy again as he closed the door behind them,

They both walked down the hall and down to the lobby. Harmony was sitting at the reception. She looked up and smiled, giving a bright happy wave. Booth snorted in amusement, tilting his head in acknowledgement as he and Bones walked out into the sun. He squinted against the afternoon sun and fished in his pocket, pulling out a pair of golden sunglasses and putting them on. They walked across the road and Booth unlocked the car. As they both got in he turned to Brennan and frowned slightly.

"What was with you back there?" he asked quietly, waiting for Bones to close the door and fasten her seatbelt before he started the car.

The anthropologist sighed. "It's Mr Giles," she murmured quietly.

"The guy with the broken hand? Why did that freak you out so much?" he muttered with a shake of his head. Bones never got freaked out by things like that.

Bones glanced at Booth out of the corner of her eye "His hands were broken, but they were…."

"You said they were careful," he said, a feeling of dread creeping up his spine. "Shit, You think he was tortured?" He turned his head and staring at Bones in disbelief.

Bones nodded. "I do. It's a common technique, the French used to do it, and the Japanese during WWII," she said. Booth swore and gripped the steering wheel in a white knuckled grip.

_He was lying on the floor, stretched out, his chin resting in his hands as he watched the man sleep. Slowly the sleeping man stirred. "Hummm," the other man muttered, groaning softly. He smiled lazily and pushed the man's glasses further up his nose as he started to wake up._

" _Hi, Rupert. I wasn't sure you were gonna wake up," he faked concern as he hopped to his feet. "You had me worried."_

_The man, Rupert Giles looked to be middle aged, and almost ten years younger then the man he had just met. His hair was just beginning to grey and was starting to thin on the top. He looked around and got slowly to his feet. "What do you want?" he asked evenly, his accent crisp and British, an edge in his voice that the older version didn't have._

" _I wanna torture you," he told Rupert evenly, no emotion in his voice at all. "I used to love it, and it has been such a long time. I mean…" he sighed dramatically, "The last time I did this they didn't even have chainsaws."_

_He walked past the other man and over to a statue of…something…with a sword in its chest. He stroked the statue lovingly, running his hands over the sword. He turned his head and noticed the other mans stare._

_He smirked. "Oh, yeah. Acathla. He's an even harder guy to wake up then you are," he muttered almost affectionately, grinning dangerously. "I mean, I performed the rituals, said all the right things…blood on my hand. Got nothing. I figure you know the ritual, you're normally pretty up with these things." He took his hand of the sword and turned around, taking a few steps towards Giles and smiling softly._

" _You could probably…tell me what I'm doing wrong. But honestly…I hope you don't." He smirked and leaned closer. "Because I really wanna torture you," he whispered wistfully._

"Booth," Bones exclaimed frantically, shaking his shoulder.

He shook his head coming out of the memory and looked around frantically. He was sitting in the driver's seat, parked, the engine rumbling under his toes. He sighed softly. "What the hell is wrong with me, Bones?" he whispered quietly as he put the SUV in gear and slowly pulled out of the parking space.


	5. Chapter 5

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 5

After Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan had left the study an uneasy silence filled the room. Finally Buffy cleared her throat. "Ah, that just happened…right?" she asked in disbelief.

There were nods all around. "It's him all right," Spike drawled, leaning back against the wall and lighting up a cigarette. "I'd know that ugly bastard anywhere."

Buffy gave him a look. "But Angel's dead, you said so yourself, unless…" her eyes narrowed in anger.

Spike raised his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. "Whoa! Where did that come from luv?" he shook his head. "I know what I saw, that dragon killed him before he could jump out of the way," his voice rose in anger. "Don't you dare think that I'd tell lies about that Buffy!"

The Slayer sighed, embarrassed for even thinking that. "I know, I'm sorry Spike…it's just," she sighed again and shrugged.

Spike nodded in understanding. "I know," he muttered turning his head and looking down, out of the window and watching as the black SUV drove away.

"He's human," Buffy whispered in awe, looking down at her hands and feeling tears in her eyes. "He's human and he doesn't remember who he used to be," she wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"Maybe…maybe it's for the best…" Willow shrugged as Buffy and Spike turned towards her. "I mean, you know Angel's past isn't exactly fluffy bunnies and roses, maybe this is what the Powers wanted…"

Giles cleared his throat. "He's still helping people…" he added.

Buffy couldn't believe her ears she shook her head frantically "No, I don't believe that." she exclaimed angrily. "Yeah sure it's painful, but he should be here, with me, not having these false memories, and hanging around that, that Bones lady. He should be here with me." She frowned and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Buffy…" Willow said softly.

Buffy shook her head. "Just don't, Willow." she said with a tired sigh. "I'm going home, I need to tell Faith, and I need to call Connor and Dawn. How the hell am I gonna tell him Angel's still alive," she murmured to herself.

"He's not Angel Buffy, he's Booth" Xander pointed out, his voice surprisingly sympathetic.

Buffy flushed pink. "Yeah, I know," she said quietly.

(v)

Booth sighed softly and pulled the SUV into the parking space outside the hotel. Bones watched him silently. "Are you sure you're ok?" she asked quietly.

Booth turned the car off; he turned his head and looked at her. "No," he murmured "I'm really not."

"Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked quietly.

He sighed again. "I just…I hate feeling like this Bones. Having no control over these memories…it's horrible."

Her eyebrows drew down as she frowned. "But…"

He interrupted her. "Those people in that room, I've seen them all before, Bones. In those dreams, in the sketchbook you saw." He took a deep breath, letting that information sink in. "I know this is going to sound crazy but…. In these memories I feel…different," he paused. "I don't even feel…human" he said and looked down at his hands.

"Booth…" Bones started to say before his phone started ringing. Booth had never been so grateful in his life as he pulled the phone from his pocket and flipped it open before putting it to his ear.

"Where the hell are you?" The response from the other end was swift.

Booth blinked and leaned forward in his seat. "Rebecca?" he asked in disbelief. He didn't know what to think, his ex _never_ called him, unless there was something wrong with Parker. "What is it? What's wrong, is Parker ok?" he asked quickly.

"He's fine." she said, Booth could just picture her as she tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm wondering where you are, I'm standing outside your apartment and there is no one here," she said, sounding pissed.

"I'm in Cleveland, on a case." he told her in annoyance. "What's the problem, I don't get Parker until next weekend?"

"Yeah well, I've got three week's leave and Mike is taking me down to the Key's, I wanted you to take Parker." she told him.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "And you didn't think to tell me this before?" he almost growled.

"What the hell do you want, Seeley?" she shouted at him. "You complain you don't see Parker as much as you want, and then when you can, your off in Cleveland!"

He sighed in frustration. "Rebecca! I'm on a case, ok. Now, what are you doing with Parker…is he going with you?" he asked.

"No" she said.

"Rebecca I can't look after him, I'm in Cleveland!"

"I'm not taking him with me. Mike doesn't want him there. How about I bring him up, and he can spend the time with you?"

He paused. "This case is pretty bad Bec," he said softly. "But, fine ok, yeah…get yourself on the earliest plane, call me and I'll meet you at the airport."

He heard her sigh quietly. "Thanks Seeley," she said, before she hung up the phone.

Booth sighed and snapped the phone shut. "Dammit!" he groaned as he put his head in his hands and leaned his forehead against the steering wheel.

Bones frowned. "It'll be fine Booth, you will love having Parker here."

He raised his head of his arms and looked at her. "Yeah, I just don't want him anywhere near this case Bones, I don't have anyone to watch him, he'll have to come with me to the police station…" he sighed again.

She smiled at him sympathetically. "I'll help," she murmured.

He smiled. "Thanks Bones," he said as he opened the door. They both got out of the car and walked into the hotel.

(v)

A few hours later Buffy walked into her apartment and slumped down onto the couch, she sighed and leaned back, resting her head on the couch. There were a few blessed minutes of silence before Robbie and Faith entered in a burst of sound and a blur of energy. Robbie careered around the apartment, waving his arms around his head as he bounced from room to room. Buffy closed her eyes and groaned, unable to watch for fear of being sick.

Faith noticed the look on her face and came to sit beside her. "Ok B. spill," she said as she tucked her legs under her and fixed Buffy with a steely gaze.

Buffy sighed. "It's Angel," she whispered, "…. he's alive."

Faith blinked and then shook her head. "I'm sorry, thought you just said that Angel is alive."

Buffy turned and looked at Faith. "I did, his name is Booth now, well that's his last name anyway."

Faith blinked again. "Oh," she whispered faintly, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Huh?"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah."

She told Faith everything that had happened earlier in the day, about Booth and Dr Brennan and how he didn't remember anything about being Angel. "I even offered to help with the case, but he turned me down." Buffy explained.

Faith listened intently, shaking her head in disbelief. "B, this is massive!" she whispered in awe.

The blonde Slayer nodded. "Yeah, now I just have to tell Connor." she muttered.

Faith's eyes widened. "Shit, what are you going to tell him?" she asked. Connor had taken the death of his father hard, blaming himself, not realizing Angel would have done anything to see him safe. That was why Angel had asked Spike to make sure Connor got out of LA. Spike, honouring Angel's last request had done just that, pulling Connor forcefully out of the alley once Angel had perished.

Buffy shook her head. She got up from the couch and picked it up the phone, dialling Dawn's mobile by memory. She put the phone to her ear as it started to ring. After a few rings she heard a click as the phone was answered. "Hello?" Dawn's voice came through the receiver.

"Dawn." Buffy smiled. "How ya going?"

"Buffy?" Dawn gasped "Oh. My God! How are you?" she screamed into the receiver and Buffy quickly jerked the phone away from her ear, a grimace of pain on her face as Dawn's excited shriek almost shattered her ear drums.

"Dawn!" she yelled.

Dawn stopped screaming. "Sorry, sorry."

Buffy sighed and brought the phone back to her ear. "It's ok, don't worry about it." she said "Is Connor there?"

"Yeah, sure…I'll get him."

Buffy waited patiently as Dawn called for Connor, she heard a muffled conversation and then the sound of the receiver being transferred from one hand to the other. "Hey, Buffy." Connor answered with a smile in his voice.

"Connor…I have something important to tell you, are you sitting down…" she blurted out in a rush, feeling nervous.

"Buffy slow down, what's wrong? Is everyone ok?"

"Everyone's fine…it's just…"

"What? Buffy what's going on?" he asked.

"It's about Angel" she told him. There was silence on the other end, she couldn't even hear Connor breathing into the receiver. "Connor?" she murmured quietly.

He cleared his throat. "What about Dad?" he asked, his voice soft.

(v)

Cleveland Domestic Airport

June 17th 2009

Booth waited patiently for Parker and Rebecca, folding his arms over his chest and tapping his foot on the floor. He was on edge, he'd had another dream last night, one that had left him feeling even more confused. At least this particular memory was something nice, without blood and death. He still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

He sighed quietly it had been full of bright lights and sounds and way too many ruffles.

_He stepped into the gym, looking around at the decorations, the balloons and the bright flashes as photos were taken. There are a number of round tables towards one side of the room; the other is full of people dancing. A band plays on the stage on the other side of the room. Everyone is dressed up, the men wearing suits, the woman fancy dresses. He paused for a second before entering the room, walking slowly towards the girl in the pale pink dress. The band striked up a new song and he tilted his head, listening to it, letting the soft notes fill his soul as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves._

_Childhood living is easy to do_

_The things you wanted I bought them for you_

_Graceless lady you know who I am_

_You know I can't let you slide through my hands_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away_

_Everyone is having a good time as he walked slowly across the room. A young woman in a dark blue, sequined dress rolled her eyes as he walked past, Willow gave him a relieved smile, the man in her arms nodding his head. Blue and yellow lights flash across the floor, balloons bob happily on the tables._

_I watched you suffer a dull aching pain_

_Now you decided to show me the same_

_No sweeping exits of offstage lines_

_Could make me feel better or treat you unkind_

_Wild horses couldn't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, couldn't drag me away_

_Booth stepped in front of the girl and look down into her beautiful hazel eyes. She blinks and smiled at him. "I didn't think you would come?" she whispered, her voice small, the relief and gratitude in her voice easy to hear._

_He ducked his head, suddenly feeling guilty. "It's a big night," he murmured, "I didn't want to miss it…but it's just for tonight…it doesn't mean…" He shrugged helplessly, hating to have to say this, but having no choice._

_Her voice is soft, "I know. I mean, I understand."_

" _Dance with me?" He asked, holding out his hand._

_She smiled at him. "I thought you would never ask." She placed her hand in Booth's and let him lead her out onto the dance floor. They moved around slowly, just twirling gently in a circle as the music flows around them._

_She sighed and relaxed in his arms, trusting him completely as she leaned her head against him shoulder. Booth looked down at her, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips as he leaned his chin on the top of her hair._

_I know I dreamed you a sin and a lie_

_I have my freedom but I don't have much time_

_Faith has been broken, tears must be cried_

_Let's do some living after we die_

_Wild horses can't drag me away_

_Wild, wild horses, can't drag me away_

He sighed and shook his head. The girl in his arms had been Buffy, looking much younger. He didn't know what to think about that and decided to put it to the back of his mind and figure out later. It would be safer that way.

The arrivals board flickered and switched and he noticed that the plane from DC had just landed. He waited a few more minutes, getting a bit impatient now, before he saw a crowd of people exiting out of the arrivals hall. He spotted Bec first and raised his hand, waving to get her attention.

She spotted him, a small smile appearing on her face and walked over to him. Parker spotted him then.

"Dad!" the four year old yelled, letting go of his mom's hand and running towards him. Booth smiled and crouched down on his haunches and opened his arms. The little boy laughed and wrapped his arms around Booth's neck.

"Hey buddy, how ya going?" he smiled and kissed the little boy's cheek. Rebecca just smiled as she walked towards them; she stopped a few feet from him and set the bright red suitcase on the ground. Booth looked up at her and smiled as he stood up "How was the flight?" he asked her.

She shrugged. "It was ok." She looked at Parker and smiled. "Are you ok here with your Dad while Mommy is on holiday?" she asked.

The little boy nodded and Bec hugged him close. "Ok, well I've packed him enough clothes for a week, he has his hand held playstation, and a couple of colouring books and a pack of pencil…"

"Relax Bec, its fine." He assured her. "I just wish you could have told me this earlier…"

"Well it's not as if you ever go anywhere." she huffed.

He gave her a look and Bec just shrugged. An announcement came on the PA and Rebecca turned her head up and listened. "Ok, well I'm on the next flight back to DC in an hour…" she hugged Parker again. "I'd better go and check in."

Booth nodded and kissed her on the cheek. "Ok, have a good holiday, say 'hi' to Mike. He better be good to you." Bec laughed and just shook her head.

"Good luck with the case Seeley." She looked down at Parker and ruffled the boy's hair. "If he comes home with nightmares I'm going to hurt you."

He glared. "Nothing's going to happen, Bec." He told her.

She ignored him, hugged Parker again, turned around and walked towards the check-in area at the other end of the airport.

Booth watched her go, then looked down, took Parkers hand in one of his and bent down to pick up the little boy's suitcase. "Come on buddy, let's go get something to eat."

"French Fries?" the boy asked excitedly.

Booth laughed. "Whatever you want little man," he said.

(v)

A little while later Booth and Parker walked into the police station. The receptionist smiled as she saw them. "Dr Brennan is already down in the morgue," she told Booth.

The tall agent nodded and placed his hand on Parkers shoulder. "Hey, would you mind looking after the little tyke, keep him away from everything downstairs?" he asked, looking into the younger woman's eyes.

She smiled. "Sure." She leaned forward in her seat and looked down at Parker "Hey, I'm Lucy, what's your name?"

"Parker," he answered, moving closer to Booth and putting his head on Booth's leg and wrapped his arm around his dad's thigh as he turned his head away in shyness.

Lucy smiled and held out her hand and Booth gently pushed the boy forward "What do you like to do Parker?" she asked conversationally.

The boy was silent for a few seconds then he turned his head, looking up at Lucy and smiled hesitantly. "I like colouring."

"He's got his book in his bag." Booth grinned and raised the _Superman_ backpack in his other hand.

Lucy grinned. "Well, let's have fun hey!" She reached out and ruffled his hair. "Your dad has to work."

Parker paused and looked up at Booth. "Ok," he answered quietly before heading over to her. Lucy smiled and took the boy's hand, leading him around the large desk before she lifted him up into the chair beside her. Booth handed her the backpack. "Now…what do you want to colour?" she asked.

Booth smiled slightly, watching his son get along with Lucy for a few seconds before he turned and headed down the hall.

(v)

For Booth and Brennan the rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Brennan was fascinated by the remains, she had never seen so many bodies in the same place, even the mass graves she had worked on in Peru had not held so much mystery.

Hodgins had been identifying a number of organic elements in the soil, including blood and acid, alcohol and other bodily fluids. There was a lot of jewellery both on the bodies and scattered around the place, there were knives, a nail file, a few shell casings and a rusted out semi automatic.

Exsanguination was the cause of death for many of the victims. They had been bled dry, deep jagged cuts across the carotid arteries in the neck, or the femoral artery in the upper thighs. A few of the bodies even had evidence of bite marks instead of the usual knife wounds, something that made Brennan curious and left Booth feeling sick.

The few bodies that hadn't died from blood loss either had snapped necks, or had evidence of being burnt or cut. Torture methods, according to Bones.

At the end of the day, almost all the victims had been identified. Now they had the job of informing their family's tomorrow. Booth wasn't looking forward to it; it was the only thing about this job that he hated.

Later that day Booth picked up Parker from the office, packing up his colouring pencils and thanking Lucy for looking after him. They drove back to the hotel, Bones going to her room, while Parker and Booth went to theirs. Booth gave Parker a snack, before he went into the bathroom, changed out of his suit and into a shirt and jeans and sat on his single bed to type out his report. Parker watched from the other bed, bouncing up and down and giggling. Booth smiled at his son and turned back to his report. Once that was done he flipped on the T.V and started watching a game. Parker got of his bed and jumped up beside him wrapping his arms around his waist. Booth put his arms around his son and pulled him close.

After the game had finished he sighed and glanced up at the clock, it was just a little after five at night. He turned to Parker "You wanna go get something to eat?" he asked the boy.

Parker's eyes widened "Yay!" he yelled sitting up and jumping on the bed "Dinner!" Booth laughed quietly and smiled as he sat up. He flipped the T.V off, pulled the clips out of his gun and locked it in his suitcase before he turned and grabbed his jacket, wallet and keys. He grabbed a beanie and a jacket for Parker, helped him brush his hair, then they slipped out of the hotel room. He took Parker's hand in his and walked the couple of meters to the next door and knocked.

A few seconds later Bones opened the door, she smiled as she saw them and stepped back. Booth smiled and walked into the room. "Hotel food sucks," he said as he let go of Parkers hand and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "So I was thinking maybe we could take a walk, find somewhere to eat…maybe get some pizza and a beer?" he raised and eyebrow and smiled.

"And ice-cream!" piped up Parker again.

Bones laughed and thought about it for a second before she nodded. "Yes, I would enjoy that a lot…just let me get my bag." She turned around, hitting a few keys on her laptop, locking the computer and shutting it down before she turned, grabbed her bag and jacket and followed him out of the room.

The street was well lit as they slowly walked along the pavement, most of the shops were still open and there were quiet a few people out. Booth kept looking around, alert for anything, holding Parkers hand and keeping the boy close as Brennan peered into shops and watched the people walking past. She noticed a few young women staring at the engagement rings in a jeweller shop window, whispering to each other and giggling as they picked out the rings they wanted their boyfriends to buy for them. They stopped on a corner and then crossed the road; Bones glanced into the window of a clothing store and stopped.

Booth continued to walk and it was only after taking a few steps before he realised she wasn't walking beside him anymore; he stopped and turned, his eyebrows coming down as he frowned. "Come on Bones! I'm hungry," he complained as he gestured for her to keep walking.

Bones ignored him as she looked into the window at the shop inside. Parker looked between his dad and Brennan.

"Buffy's inside." She said.

"Bones…." He hissed.

She turned her head and smiled at him "I'm just going to talk to her," she told him before she headed into the shop.

Booth sighed as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall. "Great, just great," he muttered to himself.

Parker looked up at him. "Dad is Tempe going to be in there a long time? Cause I'm hungry."

"No idea buddy," he muttered.

(v)

Bones slipped into the store. She was not normally so spontaneous, but she was curious. Miss Summers was being secretive, there was something she wasn't telling them and Bones wanted to know what it was.

Brennan weaved though the clothes racks, acting casual. She saw Buffy examining the shirts and moved forward, a dark-haired girl was blocking the way. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said quickly when they bumped shoulders.

Faith turned, Robbie on her hip and forced a smile as she saw Bones. "Hey, no worries. There is never enough room in these things anyway." Bones smiled back and shifted nervously, something about the young woman's eyes made her wary.

There was a moment of awkward silence before a shout came from the other side of the room, causing Bones to look up. Buffy was looking at them. "Hey Faith!" Buffy called to the woman at her side, "What do you think of this?" Bones couldn't believe her luck as Buffy moved towards them.

The blonde Slayer paused when she noticed Dr Brennan. "Oh…" she blinked. "Dr Brennan, nice to see you again."

Bones smiled. "Miss Summers how are you?"

Faith's eyes widened. "This is Dr Brennan?" Her eyes widened and she glanced at Buffy. The shorter Slayer nodded silently, giving Bones another reassuring smile.

"How do you know about me?" Bones asked Faith curiously.

Buffy shifted on her feet and blushed slightly. "I told her about you and An…Agent Booth," she said.

Faith noticed Buffy's discomfort and shifted Robbie on her hip. "So where is he?" She asked, glancing around. "I'd like to meet that large hunk of man flesh." She smirked as Buffy turned and glared at her.

The anthropologist smiled. "He is waiting outside; he didn't want to come in." She paused, an idea forming in her head. "We're actually going to get something to eat, you could come with us if you want too?"

Buffy and Faith look at each other. "We would love to" Faith said with a grin before Buffy could chicken out.

Bones looked around the store. "Are you finished here?" she asked.

Buffy nodded reluctantly. "That cute little dress didn't look quiet so cute on," she muttered. Bones nodded and led the two women outside.

Buffy smiled, but she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to see Booth again. He reminded her of everything she had lost, and at the time that Angel had needed her most, she had failed him. She didn't know if she could deal with that type of pain again, she didn't know if she could hold herself together. She didn't know if she could just talk to him and not give into the temptation to take him into her arms.

They stepped out of the shop and saw Booth leaning against the wall a few feet away, his arms were crossed over his chest. Parker stood beside him in the same position.

Buffy and Faith shared a wide eyed glance. "Who the hell is that?" Faith asked under her breath.

Shaking her head Buffy turned back around and let her gaze look past the little boy and really focus on the FBI Agent.

She knew he was Angel, he was older, small laugh lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes and mouth and he needed a shave, but the stubble on his chin adding to his sexiness. He was still lean, but the added age had added mass to his arms and shoulders. She liked it! Buffy let her eyes wander down his chest, taking in the way his shirt clung to his chest. She pursed her lips and looked lower, liking how his jeans looked as they hugged his muscular thighs and stretched over the manly bulge in the front of his pants.

Beside her Faith coughed pointedly. Buffy flushed slightly and glanced at the other Slayer out of the corner of her eye. Faith grinned wickedly as she leaned over and put her lips to Buffy's ear. "I bet he'd still look great in leather pants." she whispered low enough that only she would hear. Buffy gasped and pushed Faith away as she blushed an even deeper shade of red.

Booth turned his head and smiled, lowering his arms and putting his hands on Parkers shoulders. His eyes looked past Dr. Brennan and he noticed Buffy walking behind. He froze; his eyes widening and he got the deer in the headlight look that Angel always used to get.

Then he turned his eyes back to Bones and the look he gave his partner was almost accusing. Bones ignored the look. "Booth," she said, stepping up to him and stopping just in front of him. "Look who I bumped into. Miss Summers and her friend, Faith."

Faith stuck out her hand and shook his hand. "Faith Lehane," she smiled as she introduced herself, "and this little guy is Robbie." She indicated the five year old in her arms.

"I'm Booth." His handshake was firm and warm as he smiled quickly.

Faith grinned and looked down at Parker who was gazing up at them with wide, blue eyes.

"Who is this little guy?" she asked as she set Robbie down on the floor.

"I'm Parker!" The little boy gushed happily.

"My son," Booth added.

Buffy and Faith looked up at him, their eyes widening in shock. Buffy bit her lip feeling her heart sink. He had another son, with another woman who wasn't her. She turned her head away so he wouldn't see the tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Faith glanced at her quickly in concern before she forced a smile and bent down so that she was looking Parker in the eye. "And how old are you?" She asked with a smile in her voice.

The little boy held out four fingers. "I'm four!" he grinned. Booth smiled and squeezed the boy's shoulder affectionately.

"His mom dropped him off this morning," he explained to Buffy and Faith, "she's on a holiday at the moment, so he's here with me, aren't you buddy." He looked down and smiled at his son.

"Your wife?" Buffy asked quietly, trying to appear casual, while inside her heart constricted in her chest.

"No," he said in a curiously neutral voice as he looked at her closely.

Faith looked between them quickly, feeling the tension in the air start to rise as Booth continued to look at Buffy. "So," she said, changing the subject. "Bones said it was alright if we joined you at dinner?"

Booth glanced at Bones quickly, before he nodded once.

"What does everyone want?" Dr. Brennan interjected.

Parker and Robbie answered at the same time "Pizza!" both boys shouted excitedly "Pizza, pizza pizza!"

The adults all laughed as Faith caught Booth's eye and rolled her eyes. "Looks like the kids win again," she said with a wiry smile,

"Don't they always?" he muttered.

He took Parker's hand, and Faith took Robbie's and together they all headed down the street. Buffy fell into step beside Booth as Faith walked up in front next to Bones. They chatted as they headed down the street until they saw a little Italian café`. They walked inside and took a seat.

Booth grabbed a menu and opened it in front of Parker "Ok, pick what you want!" he said.

The little boy raised his finger and stabbed it down in the middle of the page. "That one!" Booth smirked and read the menu, "Pepperoni, good choice buddy. We'll go halves' hey!" Parker beamed proudly as Booth smiled around at the others "How about you guys pick a few pizzas and we can share?" Buffy and Faith both nodded in agreement and Robbie clapped his hands.

They ordered their pizza's, Booth went to the bar and ordered some drinks, glasses of wine for the girls, a beer for himself and soda for the boys.

When the pizza came the boys tuckered in, dropping toppings on the table and smearing tomato sauce around their mouths. Booth and Faith shared a resigned smile.

They talked, Faith and Buffy both finding themselves marvelling at the changes they could see in the former vampire. Gone was Angel's silence, his broodiness, instead Booth was outgoing. There was no trace of the soulful vampire in the human's personality.

As Booth again made a joke and joined in with the boys laugher, Faith realised she had never heard Angel laugh before. It was a nice sound.

Buffy was studying Booth closely, after a few minutes he turned his head and looked her in the eye. She stared back at him, holding his gaze and drinking him in. She never imagined she would see him again. Now, seeing him here, sitting in front of her…human. It was more then she could ever hope for. She smiled softly "So, do you have any plans for tomorrow?" she asked casually.

Booth glanced at Bones, his eyes darkening with sadness. "Yeah, we have family duty tomorrow, informing them of their loved ones loss." He sighed and looked away. "I hate that part."

Buffy and Faith nodded, both knowing what it was like, having to do the same thing for a few Slayers under their care as well. She sighed again "What about Parker?" she glanced at the little boy

Booth shook his head, "I don't know, today I left him with the receptionist at the police station, but I can't do that tomorrow. I guess he will just have to come along and I can leave him in the car when we go inside. It's not hot and I can leave the window down…" he frowned, not liking that solution one bit.

Buffy and Faith glanced at one another. "How about I watch him?" Buffy smiled as Booth's eyes widened. "What? It's the very least I could do…"

Booth thought it over for a second. If Buffy watched Parker then he could focus on the family's that needed him, and not his son waiting in his car on the side of the road. All in all, he couldn't see a downside. He smiled and nodded. "That would be great," he told her gratefully.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n: The song featured in the chapter is Wild Horses by The Sunday's. It plays at the end of the Buffy season 3 episode 'The Prom' It does not belong to me.


	6. Chapter 6

The Beginning of the End

Chapter 6

_The alley was dark and depressing. The putrid stench of garbage, and other things I didn't even want to recognise, filled my nostrils. A rat scuttled past and I watched it hungrily as it burrowed under a pile of trash. I couldn't look away, and before I even realised it, I had taken a step forward, a growl rumbling low in my throat._

_I lunged forward, diving under the trash, the rat gave a startled squeak as my hands clasped it around the middle and squeezed. There was a soft snap and the rat fell limp in my hands as I brought it hungrily to my mouth. I growled and sunk my teeth into the mass of fur and licked my lips as the still warm blood pumped into my mouth and trickled down my chin…_

"Jesus fucking Christ!" Booth shouted as he bolted upright in bed and took a deep breath. In the other bed Parker woke as well, clutching the blankets to his chest in fright and looking at his father with wide eyes.

Booth took a deep gasping breath and ran his hand through his hair. He glanced around the room, finally looking over and noticing Parker's curious stare. "Oh buddy…" he murmured. He got out of bed and sat down next to the boy, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry I woke you."

Parker hugged Booth tight, "Are you ok, daddy?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah buddy, daddy's just been having a lot of bad dreams lately…" he sighed again.

The little boy paused for a second, biting his bottom lip as he thought about that. "I didn't know grown-ups got bad dreams," he said.

Booth grimaced slightly, trying to hold the grin of amusement that wanted to spread across his face. "It's all very hush-hush," he murmured before he couldn't hold back anymore and let the grin spread across his face. Parker paused, and then he smiled at that, glad that his dad was letting him in on a long-kept adult secret.

A few minutes later, once Parker was calm enough, Booth put him back to bed and tucked the blankets snugly around his small body. The little boy smiled sleepily and turned his head away, curling onto his side and snuggling into the blankets. His eyelids fluttered and he fell asleep quickly.

For Booth it was a whole other story; sleep just would not come, he stared up at the ceiling with his arms tucked behind his head as he thought about all the dreams, the memories that had been going through his head lately. None of them made any sense, they were violent and strange… just as he had told Brennan the other day, he didn't even feel human in them.

He remembered the dream he had just had; he could still remember the scent of the rat's blood as it scuttled past, the raw, unstainable hunger that the little rodent had sparked inside him. It was disturbing, unnerving, and it scared him. There was very little in this world, certainly no person he had ever met, that had scared him as much as these memories did.

In these dreams he was inhuman, cold, fast, and stronger then he was now. He wondered how he had gotten to that point.

Then there was the fact that Buffy Summers had been in some of them. He could still remember dancing with her at that ball, a school prom most probably. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He could still feel her arms around his neck, the feel of her small body in his arms and the intoxicating scent of her shampoo as he pressed his nose to her hair.

His new sketchbook, something that only a month ago he would never have even contemplated buying, was quickly filling up with drawings and portraits. He sighed softly, opened his eyes and turned his head. He reached towards the bedside lamp, turned it on and glanced across the room to make sure Parker hadn't been disturbed. The little boy murmured quiet and shifted slightly but stayed sound asleep.

Booth sighed in relief and picked up the sketchbook from the bedside table. He opened it and started looking through the pictures. Buffy Summers smiled out at him, as did Willow and Mr Giles. He hadn't realised it before but the man with the eye patch was in here as well, looking a few years younger, sporting two eyes, and looking much happier. He flicked through a few more pages, glancing at the faces staring out at him, feeling himself drawn towards them, though he had no idea why. Towards the end of the book he paused, a young man looked out at him. The boy looked around seventeen; his hair was fairly long, just brushing the tops of his shoulders as he scowled out of the page. Despite the lack of color Booth knew for a fact his hair would be a sandy brown, his eyes a bright vivid blue.

_His mother's eyes,_ the unexpected thought sounded loud and clear inside his head.

_It was poring with rain, the large droplets quickly soaking his jacket and pants. The young woman beside him shivered with cold and he quickly pulled off his leather jacket and threw it around her thin shoulders. She looked at him and smiled briefly in thanks, then looked down at the blonde woman lying on the ground. He crouched down beside her, letting his eyes run over her swollen stomach, taking in the way she clutched at her belly as she gasped in pain. Her blond hair was plastered to her skull, her blue eyes looking up at him in pain and fear. She gripped his palm in a white-knuckled, bone-crushing grip. The other girl knelt down beside them, placing her hand on the blond woman's shoulder and looking at him in fear._

" _Is she going to be ok?" she asked, her soft voice carrying hints of a Texan twang._

_He wasn't sure, and didn't answer the brunette's question. Instead he looked down at the pregnant woman again. "It's going to be ok. I'm not going to let anything happen to you Darla," he said, stroking her hands and trying to reassure her._

_Darla grimaced and shook her blond hair out of her face "It hurts, oh, Angel. It hurts so much," she murmured, clutching at her stomach again._

" _It's ok Darla, its ok," he soothed her, running his hands over her forehead and belly. Beside him the brunette shivered under his jacket. She was skin and bones; he could hear her teeth chattering with cold as the rain continued to pelt down around them._

_Darla screamed then, arching her back and convulsing with pain. He grabbed her and held her tight. "This isn't working," the blonde screamed defiantly. "I…I can't give him life." She ran her hand over her stomach. "I can't give him anything…" She started to sob._

_He didn't know what to do. He could only watch as she cried, her swollen stomach heaving as she gasped for breath. In the distance he heard a car squeal to a stop and then a shout. The young woman beside him looked up. "Over here!" she called, waving her arm in the air._

_Darla opened her eyes. "This child, Angel…he's the only good thing we ever did together," she whispered. "You make sure you tell him that."_

_He blinked and before he could move to stop her, her hand clasped around a broken piece of wood by her side and raised it above her chest. She plunged it down, straight into her heart._

_His eyes opened wide as she turned to dust, crumpling into the puddle forming on the ground. In the spot where she had been a baby boy was suddenly revealed. He started screaming, thrashing his arms around as he cried. Beside him the skinny girl gasped, her eyes opening wide. She fumbled with the jacket around her shoulders, giving it to him silently._

_He snatched the jacket, and quickly wrapped it around the newborn baby, shielding him from the rain. He picked him up and cradled him against his chest. He looked down at the little boy in awe. This little human was his child, his son!_

_There was a clatter of footsteps, and a black man, a curvy woman and a tall be-speckled man came into view. They all looked down at him with a mixture of disbelief and awe. The other woman knelt down beside him and placed her hand over the little boy's heart. She looked up at him in wonder and smiled._

_He felt himself smiling back, happiness threatening to burst inside him. He was so happy._

" _What are you going to name him?" she murmured quietly, seemingly oblivious to the rain poring around them._

_He bit his lip. "Connor," he said,, "I'm going to call him Connor."_

Booth gasped and opened his eyes. He looked around and noticed Parker still sleeping soundly. _What the hell is going on?_ He thought in disbelief. He didn't have another son, did he? He would know, wouldn't he?

It's not as if these things just happened without, well _things_ happening!

With a heavy heart, and more questions then he would have liked Booth put the sketchbook back on the table and turned off the light. The faint light of pre-dawn filtered through the blinds as Booth settled back down on the bed and tried to go to sleep.

(v)

Buffy's apartment

Cleveland, Ohio, June 18th 2009

"Where did I put that blue top?" Buffy screamed as she rushed around the apartment. Faith watched the blond Slayer as she ran from room to room frantically looking for said top; she was smiling in amusement and shaking her head.

The last couple of hours had been hectic. Buffy had cleaned the apartment from top to bottom (not that it was dirty to start with), but she wanted to make a good impression. She wanted Booth to see that she and Faith were mature and responsible and… "Faith! Are you sure you didn't wear it?" she called from the bedroom.

Faith sighed and rolled her eyes as she took a sip from her morning coffee. "Did you check the dryer?"

There was a pause, and then Buffy ran out of her bedroom, dressed in a bra and summer skirt, and ran down the hall to the small laundry at the back of the apartment. Faith hid a small smile as a few seconds later Buffy started cursing. "Found it!" she called.

She walked back into the kitchen, buttoning up the blue blouse over her bra and smoothing the cotton self-consciously. Buffy noticed Faith's small smile and shook her head. "I know I'm stressing but I just want it all to go well, you know." She rolled her eyes. "I probably shouldn't have offered, this is just going to be even more trouble, but I just couldn't resist those eyes…"

Faith smiled again. "Booth's or Parkers?"

Buffy sighed softly and slipped into a seat opposite the dark Slayer, she poured herself a glass of juice. "Both," she admitted with a roll of her eyes. "Parker is just adorable, and Booth…" She stopped and blushed.

"Is still Angel?" whispered Faith.

"Yeah."

"You're sure he's Angel? I mean he looks like him…only a bit older, but…" Buffy looked Faith in the eye and just quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah, I know I know…it's just so hard to believe…he's human, Buffy."

"I know, Faith; it's the only thing I have been thinking of lately."

"Are you going to do anything about it?" Faith asked.

"Like what?" she said.

Faith smirked and wiggled her eyebrows. "Come on Buffy! Surely you've thought about doing the nasty thing! He is just as hot with a pulse as he was without."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "No, well…ok…maybe a little bit," she murmured. Faith smirked and Buffy found herself smiling in response. "Ok….maybe a lot." She laughed and Faith joined in.

"So what's the plan?" Faith inquired as she took another sip of her coffee.

Buffy just shrugged. "No plan. I just want him to…like me," she whispered.

"Oh come on Buffy!"

"What? He might look like Angel, but I know he's not. Not anymore. He is Booth and I don't know anything about him! He has a son and an ex and for all I know he has a girl back in DC. I don't know anything about him Faith!" She yelled.

Faith just looked at her calmly. "So get to know him, take a chance, Buffy."

Buffy sighed. "Easier said then done. Even if he was still Angel it doesn't change anything. He left remember, he left me!" Buffy shook her head frantically refusing to cry.

Faith looked at her sympathetically. "Buffy…"

Before Faith could say anything more the doorbell rang. Faith fell silent and both Slayers looked at each other. Buffy made a pained sound in the back of her throat and raised her hand to smooth down her hair. Faith smirked at her.

Buffy ignored the other Slayer and started to get up. "Coming!" she called. As she walked out into the hall Robbie dashed past.

"I'll get it!" he yelled happily, running to the door and pulling it open a smile on his face.

Booth blinked and looked down at Robbie. "Hey," he said.

Buffy appeared behind Robbie, opening the door a bit wider and taking a deep breath as she tried to appear calm. Booth smiled at her, his deep brown eyes twinkling as they looked deep into her soul. "Miss Summers," he said in greeting.

Buffy smiled. "Buffy," she told him.

Booth nodded slightly. "Buffy," he repeated, his voice almost a purr.

Buffy sighed, _damn that man,_ she thought,. On the other side of the door Booth quirked an eyebrow and found himself smiling at her reaction.

Robbie bounced in front of him. "Do you want to go play with my trucks?" he asked Parker in a rush.

The four year-old nodded, letting go of his dad's hand before he ran after Robbie. Buffy stepped back and smiled at the agent. Booth took the unspoken invitation and stepped into the apartment, not realizing the significant of the simple movement as Buffy turned her head away again. She swallowed painfully and closed the door behind him. "Do you want a coffee or anything?" she asked him quietly as she turned and walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

Booth glanced around as he stepped inside the apartment, taking in the clean floor, the shiny table and was quietly impressed. He shook his head as he turned and looked at Buffy. "I can't," he muttered, and she could here the regret in his voice. "I've gotta get to work." Buffy nodded slowly, feeling a bit disappointed.

He held up a superman backpack. "I've packed a few games, and his colouring book. I also put a few dollars in the front pocket encase you decide to take him somewhere." He shrugged.

Buffy nodded and took the backpack as he held it out. "We might be at the Council building when you come and pick him up. Normally Giles likes to have these boring meetings every couple of days, depending if stuff comes up."

Booth nodded. "Okay, I'll come here first and if your not here, I'll check that other place out." He nodded and then paused. "Well…" He cleared his throat. "I'll…"

Buffy nodded. "Yeah…"

Booth turned. "Parker!" he called out loudly, "I'm going!" There was a short pause and then the sound of Parker running back down the hall. He was a blur of blonde hair and denim jeans as he raced towards Booth and gave him a big hug. Booth ruffled his hair and hugged him back.

"Be good buddy." He gave Buffy a look. "Stay out of trouble ok?" Parker stepped back and nodded vigorously as he looked up at Booth solemnly. Booth's mouth twitched as he struggled not to smile.

Not nearly as composed as Booth, Buffy couldn't help the little giggle that bubbled up inside her. The little boy was just completely adorable; he was a real rascal and she could see him and Robbie would get along famously.

Booth smiled at Parker one more time, nodded gratefully at Buffy and then turned and headed out the door. Buffy sighed softly as the door clicked shut behind him. She looked down and found Parker looking at her curiously "Do you want some Pancakes for breakfast?" she asked.

The boy nodded happily. Buffy smiled. "Funny shapes or circles?" she asked.

Parker grinned. "Funny shapes!" He jumped up and down and clapped his hands.

Buffy laughed and took his hand as Faith wandered in from the living room and smiled. "He's gonna walk all over you if you don't do something soon." she told the smaller blonde as Parker bounced down the hall, dragging Buffy behind him.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Shut up Faith!" she snapped, looking down at Parker and smiling.

(v)

When Booth returned to the hotel he found Bones waiting outside the front. He parked and she hurried over, a stack of folders in her hand, she smiled at him as she got into the passenger's seat. "Is Parker ok with Buffy?" she asked.

Booth nodded. "He's fine, probably going to have the time of his life scamming sweets and soda." He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "As if that kid needs any more sugar."

Bones smiled at that. "Yes, he is quiet excitable, isn't he."

"That he is." He agreed with a smile before he noticed the amount of folders in Bones had. He sobered immediately, sadness settling in his gut as he remembered what the day entailed. "So. Who's family are we visiting first?" he asked quietly.

Bones grimaced and opened the first file. "Tania Hutchinson, 54 Trobin Ave, Cleveland." Booth activated his GPS, quickly typing in the address.

"Ok," he muttered as the GPS greeted him warmly as he pulled out of the car park. "Let's get this over and done with."

(v)

Vorkuta, Northern Russia,

The early hours of June 18th 2009

Connor grumbled under his breath. It was night; they were at the edge of the town, in the area that used to house the forced-labour camps. It was cold, and the fog was thick as they crept along through the rundown buildings, and vacant lots. Beside him walked Hannah, a Slayer.

She was tall, almost as tall as he was, with flame-red hair that she currently had stuffed under a woollen cap. Her piercing blue eyes swept the area in front of them as she gripped her sword tight. On his other side Dawn kept close to him, she had a sword in her hand and a small crossbow strapped to her back.

Dawn's face was grim, her mouth set in a determined line as they trudged through the snow. A few minutes later they slunk around a debilitated building, keeping low and quiet as they raced across a gravel road before crouching down behind a scope of trees and peered out into a large field that was surrounded by a tall fence. In the middle of the field, a good two hundred meters away and almost obscured by fog, they could just make out the form of a large warehouse, a dim yellow light flickered in a second story window.

Connor shifted restlessly and turned to his wife. "Is there even a slight change that you will stay out here?" he asked quietly, a smile in his eyes despite the seriousness to his tone.

Dawn smiled back at him. "Not a chance," she told him. "I'm going in there with you, no matter what you say."

A few meters away, leaning against a tree trunk, Hannah just smiled. "Just quit while you're ahead, Connor," she murmured, her voice thick with an Aussie twang. "She's as stubborn as any Slayer."

Connor just sighed, leaned over and kissed Dawn quickly; it was soft, and full of love. "Just stay behind me, ok? I don't want you getting hurt," he told her, gripping his axe tight.

Dawn nodded and exchanged a glance with Hannah. "I will, these Thesulac demons are some tough son-of-a-bitches." She shook her head.

Connor nodded and stood up slowly. "Come on then," he said as he took a step forwards towards the fence. 'The sooner we eliminate this nest, the sooner we can get back to Cleveland."

Hannah bit her lip. "And you can see your dad?" she asked. She had been filled in on what was going on, she still didn't understand how Connor's father could be a vampire, who had died and was now human with no knowledge of who he used to be. It was all very confusing, and something she was struggling to make sense of. In the two years since she had been a Slayer, the young Australian had learned to believe in most things.

Connor nodded at her question, his stare distant as he remembered the past. "Yeah, and I'm still not sure how I feel about that." He whispered.

Dawn took a step towards him and took his hand in hers. "I can't imagine what Buffy must be going through. Angel, alive…human….she must be ecstatic!" The brunette smiled, remembering Buffy when she was happiest, with Angel.

Connor nodded slowly. "Yeah, but he doesn't remember any of us. He thinks his name is Seeley Booth." He paused and shook his head again. "What the hell kind of name is Seeley anyway?" he rolled his eyes as he chuckled softly.

Dawn smiled and laughed with him. "At least it's not William," she muttered, "That would have been funny! And Spike would think it was a hoot!"

Connor snorted and rolled his eyes. "Not as funny as Albert," he muttered.

"Or Harry!"

"Oh, how about Bob?"

Hannah shook her head and rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Ok! Back on topic!" she shouted. "We gonna kill ourselves some demons or what?"

Connor and Dawn both looked contrite. "Right. Sorry," murmured Dawn, Connor nodded.

They all got up, shifting and slowly moving from behind the trees and out towards the warehouse. Connor had only taken a few steps before he chuckled quietly.

"Seeley," he muttered under his breath as he shook his head again as he crept towards the fence, taking out a pair of wire cutters from his pocket and knelt down beside the fence and started cutting through the wires.

Dawn giggled again and Hannah rolled her eyes as she slipped through the hole Connor made in the wire, her eyes wide and alert as she held her sword held at the ready.

(v)

Robbie and Parker laughed quietly as they slinked around the apartment, hiding behind couches and curtains so that they could jump out and shout loudly, scaring Buffy out of her skin before scampering away. Faith wasn't even there to help her out. The other Slayer was up at the school, helping to train some of the younger Slayers in unarmed combat.

Finally, after trying for an hour to read a new report on Polgara demons, Buffy rolled her eyes. "Ok, come on guys, I have a lot of reading to do ok? How about you play a nice quiet game of hide and seek instead?" she told them.

Robbie and Parker emerged from behind the couch, looked at each other and then grinned. "Ok!" they announced at the same time. Robbie dashed off quickly, running around the corner and disappearing from sight before Parker could even blink. The little blonde boy pouted. Buffy smiled and patted the couch beside her. Parker grinned and raced around the couch, jumping up next to her.

"Just close your eyes and count. When you get to 15 you can shout 'ready or not!' and then you can go find Robbie, ok?"

Parker nodded vigorously. He had played hide and seek before with the twins at the other end of the street, but at four he sometimes needed reminding of the rules. He placed his palms over his eyes and started counting. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight…nine…ten…eleven..." He fell silent.

Buffy glanced at the little boy sitting next to her. "Twelve," she whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Twelve," Parker parroted before he fell silent again.

'Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen," Buffy quickly told him.

"Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, READY OR NOT!" yelled Parker at the top of his lungs before he quickly jumped of the couch and rushed out of the room. Buffy shook her head at the boy's antics and turned back to her reading.

A few minutes later Parker came running back into the living room, his eyes wide and scared. Buffy immediately slipped of the couch and knelt down in front of him. "What's wrong Parker?"

The little boy's bottom lip quivered. "He's under the bed!" he whined.

Buffy blinked in confusion. "You found him?" She smiled and shook her head. "So go tag him silly!" She laughed.

Parker shook his head frantically. "Can't!" he muttered, his bottom lip quivering.

Buffy frowned again. "Why not?" she asked quietly. She was getting confused. Had the rules for hide and seek changed and nobody had thought to tell her?

"Cause there's monsters under the bed," he whispered.

Buffy stopped herself just before she started smiling. "Are you sure?" she asked seriously. Knowing that what she said to the four year old at this moment could be important with how he dealt with this in the future.

The little boy nodded vigorously "Ah huh. Daddy normally checks under my bed for monsters, but Daddy isn't here and Robbie is under the bed and I don't want the monsters to get him, and I don't want the monsters to get me…" he babbled.

Buffy blinked and then smiled in relief. It wasn't a real monster, just a four year-olds normal overactive imagination. She took his hand. "Come on, we'll deal with the monster together ok!" She stood up and headed towards Robbie's room, Parker trailing beside her as he gripped her hand tight.

When she reached Robbie's room she stopped and leaned against the doorjamb as she peered into the room. "Robbie…come out, come out wherever you are," she announced in a singsong voice as she let go of Parker's hand and stepped into the room. Crouching down on her knees she leaned forward and peered under the bed, Robbie was lying under the bed, his face turned towards her. He scowled as she spotted him.

Buffy beckoned and Parker came slinking up to her, he was nervous. He dropped down next to her and peeked under the bed as well.

"See," Buffy told him, a smile in her voice. "Robbie's fine. No monsters under this bed."

Parker breathed a sigh of relief and sat up; Robbie crawled out from under the bed and pouted. "Mommy and Buffy kill all the bad monsters," he told Parker solemnly.

Parker paused looking at Buffy inquiringly. Buffy smiled at the little boy and ruffled his hair. "I sure do," she murmured.

Parker grinned. "Daddy catches all the bad men," he told them. "Sometimes he kills them, but he doesn't like it and he is always sad when he has to kill them."

Buffy looked at the little boy sympathetically as she stood up. "How about we forget about hide and seek for the moment, hey?" Robbie and Parker both nodded. "Great, let's go have some lunch," Buffy offered, causing both boys to yell happily in agreement.

(v)

The older man and his wife were sitting on the couch, clutching each other as if there life depended on it. Bones slowly showed them one of Angela's sketches of a young woman. The man reached out and tentatively took the picture, he showed it to his wife, who glanced at the drawing and broke down, wailing her grief as tears started streaming down her face.

Booth swallowed the lump in his throat, blinking furiously and glancing away. Bones looked at him as he could see she was struggling with the tears as well.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Mr and Mrs Hutchinson," Booth offered, making his voice soothing as he looked at the older man in sympathy. Mr Hutchinson nodded, his eyes watering. "Did your daughter have any enemies, anyone that would want to cause her harm?"

Mrs Hutchinson shook her head frantically. "No, no she was a beautiful girl everyone loved her." She turned her head and started sobbing into her husbands shoulder.

Booth sighed and looked away. He nodded and stood up. "Thank you for your time," he murmured, Bones standing up with him. "We'll let ourselves out."

Booth and Bones walked quickly out of the house and closed the front door behind them. Booth stood on the front step and put his sunglasses on. "One down…." he muttered under his breath as he walked down the steps and towards the SUV, Bones walking silently beside them. "…so many more to go…"

(v)

After a lunch of salad sandwiches and glasses of juice, Buffy decided to take the boys out. It wasn't too far to the Council building, they could walk there and then Buffy could talk to Giles and the others while the boys played.

They washed their hands and faces while Buffy grabbed her coat and keys before heading out the door.

The walk was uneventful, the boys rushed ahead, stopping at each street corner and waiting until Buffy caught up so that they could cross the roads.

A few minutes later they all tumbled into the lobby of the Council building. Buffy sent Robbie and Parker down the hall to the playroom; Robbie already knew where it was. It was where he stayed whenever he was here; sometimes there were other kids; children of other clients, younger siblings of Slayers when their parents came to visit, sometimes even a few demon kids.

The room had a couch, a play station, one of those table-tennis things. All in all it was a fun room, and Robbie had no qualms with parting from Buffy in favour of the play station.

Parker however wasn't so sure, he liked Buffy, she was pretty and good fun and he wasn't sure he liked this large, dark building. Robbie noticed the younger boy's hesitation and smiled; he remembered he had hated this building before too, until he figured out the slippery tiles made a great slide when he was only wearing socks. Robbie smiled and tugged on Parkers sleeve. "Come on, it's fun! They have cool games!" he told the younger boy.

Parker thought about that for a second before he nodded and grinned. "Ok," he agreed, following the older boy down the hall and towards the game room.

Buffy smiled at them and walked the other way; she passed Harmony, and a few seconds later she opened the door to the large library on the ground floor and looked around at the entire gang. They looked up and called hello, greeting her warmly.

Faith grinned. "How did the little terrors go?" she asked amusement clear in her voice as she leaned back against the couch under the window.

Buffy smiled. "We had a little issue with hide and seek but nothing to bad. How about you?" she asked.

Faith shrugged, she had spent the morning at the _Summers School for Gifted Girls_ , helping to train some of the newer Slayers. Faith liked the job, it was only for a few hours a week (a few of the older Slayers trained the girls with weapons, and Spike sometimes taught them martial arts) so she could still spend some time with Robbie and get a bit of money.

"It was ok," she murmured. "Mandy took a punch to the nose that she should have dodged, but she's ok now." She fell silent. She had been thinking about getting more work with the Slayers once Robbie started Kindergarten in the fall, but she wasn't quite sure yet.

Lorne, who was sitting near Faith, greeted Buffy warmly. Buffy smiled back at the empathy demon; she liked Lorne, he was always kind and he was great with the girls, teaching them about Pylea, and peaceful demons. Right now he was wearing one of his long trench coats, trying to hide his green skin. A black fedora was sitting on the coffee table. "When did you get here?" she asked, coming over and giving the demon a hug.

"Just a few minutes ago." He said.

From the other side of the room Willow smiled. "I heard about Booth and Parker." Her eyes twinkling in excitement. "So tell me all about it."

Lorne grinned. "How is he? Still as broody as ever?"

Buffy grinned. "There's nothing to tell! I offered to look after Parker, while Booth and Dr Brennan worked on the case, it was just a nice thing to do." She paused and glanced at Lorne. "And no, he's not broody at all…"

"I actually heard him laugh." Faith added.

Lorne turned to the brunette beside him and smiled sadly. "A rare occurrence," he muttered quietly so only they could hear.

On the other side of the room, sitting at a table, Xander glanced up and rolled his eyes having caught the end of the discussion "Yeah, sure, Buffy." He smirked in amusement. If there was one thing he knew for certain about Buffy, it was that when it came to Angel, or now Booth, she never, ever did anything just because it was the 'right' thing to do. She did it because she wanted to do it, wether is was the best thing or not, she didn't care.

Hell, more often then not, when it came to Angel, she did the last _thing_ that would be considered 'right'.

He still wasn't sure about how he felt about the FBI agent. He and Angel had never gotten along, even though he knew the souled vampire had always cared about Buffy. Now that Angel was human, there really wasn't anything he could protest and he figured he could wait a little longer until he started hating the man.

Buffy walked across the room, over towards Giles and gave her former Watcher a quick hug before settling down in the chair next to him. "Did any of the patrols find anything?" she asked.

Giles shook his head. "The warehouse is deserted. The FBI is pretty thorough when collecting evidence."

Willow smiled. "I bet a lot of that had to do with Dr Brennan," she told the others; she had admired the forensic anthropologist when they met the other day.

Giles nodded in agreement. "You're probably right. In any case they found nothing, the vampires have obviously moved on."

Buffy frowned in annoyance. "We'll get them. I'm going to make sure of that!" she said, Faith nodded vigorously in agreement.

They all fell silent again, Willow reading, Xander working on something for his building company. Faith got up and headed out the door, Buffy looked around, suddenly noticing the absence of a certain British vampire. "Where's Spike?" she asked curiously.

The blonde vampire had surprised everyone and was living in a small apartment not that far away; he helped out with training the Slayers. He often went out patrolling by himself and was pretty good with putting in his two cents about vampire and demon behaviour. He was still one of Buffy's closest friends, got along pretty well with Lorne and Faith and he adored Robbie. When Connor and Dawn were in town he always loved spending time with them. He still called her 'little bit', a nickname that she hated, but he didn't care.

Connor would always ask him things about Angel, if he asked, Spike would tell the boy about Angel's past, and the stuff they got up to, both with and without their souls. More often then not the blonde vampire would get drunk and end up crashing on Dawn and Connor's couch.

Sometimes he would disappear for a few weeks or months at a time, when Dawn and Connor when to Australia to pick up Hannah, Spike had gone with them. He had visited LA a few times, and when Illyria turned up every couple of years after her wanderings, he would normally spend a few days just hanging out with the ancient God King.

"Illyria turned up, again," murmured Giles. _Speak of the devil._ "I think they were at his house, Illyria was telling him what she had been up too…They'll probably be here once the sun sets."

Buffy still didn't understand everything about Illyria. According to Willow, she had once been a young woman called Fred, a good friend of Angel's. A few months before LA went to hell, Fred had made the mistake of opening an ancient sarcophagus before she had known what it was. Illyria had hollowed out her body, liquefying her organs and taken her over all in the space of 24 hours. According to Spike, Wes had taken it pretty hard.

Even now she knew Spike thought that Fred's death was one of the reasons the former Watcher had died, he had wanted to be with Fred again.

In the years since Spike and Connor had first appeared in her apartment, Illyria had turned up once or twice, looking decidedly demonic with her mane of blue hair and red-leather suit.

Xander always made a quick exit when the blue haired god turned up. The one time he had met her, she had made a comment that he was 'appealing', her vivid blue eyes looking over his form curiously. Before anyone else could even react, Xander's eyes had widened and after making a distressed sound in the back of his throat he had turned around and ran from the room, muttering about demon women and 'just my luck'.

The rest of the Scoobies hadn't known wether to be amused or concerned.

Illyria had tilted her head to the side. "The human is strange and nicely formed." Spike had just rolled his eyes.

Buffy shook her head, coming out of her musings. "Great," she muttered, "This is the last thing we need!"

Willow frowned. "Don't be like that, Buffy," murmured Willow. "Illyria's strange, but she helps…you remember Spike said she's one of the reasons he and Connor got out of LA alive."

"I know, she just gives me the wiggins, that's all," she said, shivering slightly.

"You're not the only one," muttered Xander with a frown, causing Buffy and Willow to laugh and Giles to smile.

The door opened again and Faith walked back inside, Parker and Robbie trailing in behind her. Parker ran up to Buffy and bounced on his heels as he tugged on Buffy's jacket. "Is daddy going to be here soon?" he asked quietly.

Buffy smiled. "I'm sure he will be here soon," she told the little boy, but Parker wasn't listening. The little boy was staring at Lorne, his eyes widening. Buffy blanched. _Shit_ "Ahhh…"

Lorne cleared his throat and smiled at the little boy. "Hey little man, I'm Lorne." He held out his hand and shook the little boy's hand.

Parker continued to stare at the green-skinned demon, everyone else is watching Parker closely, just waiting for the screaming to start. "Parker…" Buffy whispered quietly, reaching out towards the boy.

The little boy blinked. "You have green skin," he pointed out happily.

Lorne smiled. "That's right," he murmured. He glanced at Buffy and caught her eye, noticing the small shake of her head. He grinned. "It's just makeup…I'm in the circus, I work as a clairvoyant."

"A care..care..vault?" the little boy screwed up his face in confusion.

Lorne grinned. "Clairvoyant, I can read someone's destiny, but only if you sing for me."

Parker thought about that for a second. "Cool," he muttered. Then he paused and frowned. "Are you a clown too?"

Lorne blinked and shook his head, opening his mouth he started to explain to the little boy that a clown was something different. But before he could even get a word in the door opened again and Agent Booth and Dr Brennan walked into the room.

Lorne turned his head and gasped quietly as he saw Booth. "Oh…boy," he murmured under his breath as he saw the former vampire for the first time. Noticing the strength in his soul and the unbreakable bond he had with his son and Dr Brennan, he also saw the connection the tall agent was starting to form with Buffy. At this revelation the empathy demon smiled happily. There was no doubt in his mind that this truly was Angel.

For his part Booth's eyes widened when he saw Lorne. "What the hell!" he muttered, stopping dead in his tracks and tensing up in anticipation.

Bones paused beside him, gasping softly when she noticed Lorne she quickly grabbed the Agents arm. "No Booth," she said. "Don't shoot the clown!"

"What," snapped Booth, looking down at her with a shocked took on his face. "I wasn't going to shoot him." He glanced at Lorne and frowned. "What's with the skin?" He shifted on his feet, and everyone in the room could see how tense he was.

Lorne paused. "Er…I'm in the circus?"

Booth eyes narrowed and Brennan's widened. Booth's fingers twitched, just centimetres from his gun holster. He really, really hated clowns!

He fought the urge to shoot the 'clown', instead he sighed, pushed his jacket out of the way and placed his hands on his hips glaring at Lorne, the empathy demon was almost wilting under his hard stare.

"Daddy!" Parker yelled, running across the room and opening his arms. Booth blinked, breaking off his stare and looked down at his son; he smiled and relaxed, taking his hands off his hips he crouched down and scooped the little boy up. Holding him tight he settled the boy on his hip. "Hey buddy! My you're getting heavy!"

"You're just getting old dad!" The little boy grinned.

Brennan laughed, and Buffy's eyes widened in shock as Booth just shook his head and grinned. He turned his head and rolled his eyes at Brennan. "Can you believe this kid?" he asked, cocking his head. "After everything I've done for him." Parker giggled and buried his head in Booth's shoulder.

"Did you have fun today?" he asked looking at Buffy, Buffy got up and walked over, a smile tugging at her own lips as she watched father and son together.

The little boy nodded. "Uh huh, we played hide and seek and I got scared of the monster under the bed, but Buffy made it go away and I found Robbie, and then we had lunch." He took a deep breath and then fell silent.

Booth blinked and glanced at Buffy. "That was…thanks." He smiled and looked down at his son. "We'll get all those bad monsters under the bed and you won't have to worry about them ok?" he murmured.

Parker nodded and Booth glanced at Buffy again. "Thanks for looking after him," he said.

Buffy shrugged. "It's no problem, he was good and we had fun. I can look after him tomorrow as well." She paused. "Or, Faith will…" She glanced at the dark-haired Slayer who nodded as Buffy suddenly remembered that she was patrolling tomorrow night.

Booth nodded. "Sure." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. "Well, it's getting late, and we better go…"

Buffy nodded vigorously. "Oh…yeah…sure," she babbled and blushed, waving as Booth and Brennan turned and walked out of the library. She heard them chatting as they walked down the hall.

"Damn, B," muttered Faith from behind her. "You still got it bad!"

"Shut up, Faith," Buffy muttered softly, trying to control her racing heart.


End file.
